• About 500 people marched in front of #RioGrandedoSul's gov't building in protest against the lockdown measures. #covid #pandemic
• Due to the controversial nullification of former president #Lula's sentence, General Luiz Eduardo Rocha Paiva, member of the gov't's Amnesty Commission, wrote and published a letter on the Military Club's website condemning the action, but although the Armed Forces expressing their disapproval is welcome and help the people feel that they are paying attention and are sharing the same outrage—better late than never—, two parts of the text sound disheartening. In one he wrote, “THE #STF (#SupremeCourt) GAVE A FATAL BLOW TO THE BALANCE OF POWERS, ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE DEMOCRATIC REGIME AND OF THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PEACE.” What does 'fatal blow' means here if the military hasn't done anything? Ok, he may be referring to the next one. There should be some action on the next one or the phrase 'fatal blow' will have meant nothing. In another part, in the very beginning, he wrote, “[JUDGE-]MINISTER FACHIN'S DECISION, FREEING LULA FROM HIS SENTENCE, WAS A SLAP ON THE FACE (FORGIVE ME THE EXPRESSION) OF THE BRAZILIAN NATION.” Yes, he apologized for using the expression bofetada, which is a synonym of tapa ('slap'), and which in no way sounds rude or too strong. It's worth remembering Judge-Minister #AlexandredeMoraes hurt the #Constitution badly twice between 2019 and last month, when he, also monocratically, accused, investigated, arrested, judged, and sentenced; first a journalist, and then a congressman. According to the Constitution, #Moraes could have been arrested by President #Bolsonaro, who chose not to.
• The population of #AngradosReis, in #RiodeJaneiro, invaded City Hall. They are outraged by the mayor's decision to put a lockdown in place, after he ran in 2020 promising alignment with #Bolsonaro and no more strong restriction measures. A video shows people forcing their way in and one guard trying to keep them out. As they are entering they chant “WE WANT TO WORK!” Angra dos Reis does not have a high #COVID infection or death rate and the excuse the mayor gave was that the country is going through a hard time. #pandemic #lockdown
• #JanainaPaschoal, coauthor of former president #DilmaRousseff's impeachment, believes the reason behind judge-minister #Fachin's decision to nullify #Lula's sentence is the fear that even more damning messages leaked from #LavaJato become public. If Fachin's intention was to halt the investigations on the illegal practices in the operation, this was still not fully accomplished as the Superior Justice Court (#STJ) is still willing to proceed with the investigation. #dilma #moro #dallagnol
• The republican-like Congresswoman #BiaKicis was elected as president of the Constitution and Justice Commission in Congress. This is a big win for the #Bolsonaro administration. With her and a less partisan president in Congress, #Bolsonaro should see most of his projects at least go for a vote.
• After the Department (Ministry) of Culture announced that it will no longer approve money for events that can't happen under a regular planning schedule for any reason, like lockdown or renovation, the Brazilian Lawyers Association (#OAB) issued a letter criticizing the decision, claiming it to contribute for the destruction of culture. Secretary (Minister) #MarioFrias tweeted, “I HAVE A QUESTION: IS OAB DEFENDING OUR CULTURE OR THE PERCENTAGE LAW FIRMS RECEIVE FOR EVERY SINGLE PROJECT THAT'S APPROVED UNDER THE ROUANET LAW?” Law firms receive 15% of the money. OAB has been criticized for it's open leftist political activism. Many people consider it a disgrace for the country, not only for the activism per se, but for the fact that lawyers can't work without their approval and without paying them, even though a lawyer is graduated. OAB seems to be a union disguised as an association, and as with the majority of unions you are forced to pay, they don't need to convince you that it's worth paying them.

• One of the judge-ministers of the #SupremeCourt (#STF), #EdsonFachin, in a monocratic decision, nullified the sentence former president #Lula received in four charges, meaning he can no longer even be considered a ex-criminal, and also he's got back all his rights to run for a political position. Fachin always showed support for the left before he was appointed to be judge-minister in 2015 by former president #DilmaRousseff, for whom he recorded a campaign video in her favor in 2010. But, this, per se, still doesn't fully explain his monocratic and outrageous decision. What might be a reason behind it was the imminent arrest of #DeltanDallagnol and #SergioMoro. Lula's sentence's nullification means illegal #LavaJato practices would have no more legal implications. According to a tweet by #Dallagnol, #Fachin's argument for the nullification was that Lula's process should have taken place in #Brasilia, not #Curitiba, due to jurisdiction issues, an opinion Dallagnol disagrees on and writes it had been already discussed by the STF. Coincidentally or not, 2 days prior to Fachin's decision, Lula is reported asking #FernandoHaddad (who ran against #Bolsonaro) if he'd be his vice in a future campaign, and 1 day prior, democrat-like Senator #HumbertoCosta tweeted a picture of Lula at a gym with the text, “YOU BETTER GET READY...” Fachin's decision will be reviewed by the full bench. Some judge-ministers are (allegedly) not Ok by the prospect of seeing #Moro get away with his illegal actions. #haddad
• Two videos posted last weekend show the front of #SaoPaulo's mayor, #JoaoDoria, home being heavily secured. In them, we can spot 1 full-size VAN, 15 cars (compact hatches, and small and mid-size SUVs), 8 motorcycles, and at least 23 police officers. Later on the weekend, a group of dozens of people gathered at one corner of his street (that was blocked) to protest the excessive security, the high expenses in propaganda by the state, the strong pandemic measures, and the fact that his son was filmed making a party in one of his dad's companies' buildings where nobody (that was captured in the video) where wearing a mask or were social distancing. According to conservative congressman #GilDiniz, there were at least 250 police officers there. We still don't know the reason why for such security. The video of his son's party immediately got viral and call #Doria's attention, who went there to personally confront the person who posted the images. He starts speaking to her without a mask while pointing his finger at her, and he says she's posting fake videos. He exposed her full name on social media and kept pushing that she posted fake videos, and now she's planning to seek compensation for doxing and false accusation. She's to be heard this Wednesday at the police. #covid #pandemic #fakenews

• A video of a street vendor being approach by the military police and being put into the trunk of a police car Thursday night in #Bahia went viral. He was not supposed to be out at that time due to the #curfew. He said he lost the last bus and no more buses had come since then. At a certain moment, one of the officers forcibly approaches him and puts him in the trunk of the police vehicle while the vendor says, “DON'T HURT ME!” What's shocking about the video is that the officer's approach is nearly the same as if approaching a criminal, which very much makes you believe the guy is a criminal (if you didn't know the context). Another thing that worries is the fact that another officer, when he realizes there's someone recording it, approaches the person and says, “IF THIS GENTLEMAN IS BEING FILMED [BY YOU] YOU'RE GOING TO BE A WITNESS. COME ON [WITH US].” #covid #covid19 #coronavirus #abuseofpower
• The #Senate approved a bill that authorizes private companies to buy vaccines. It's now headed to the #Congress. If it passes, President #Bolsonaro may veto it because the bill removes the responsibility for side effects of the #vaccine from the makers and put it in the government. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• Some residents of the city of #Araraquara in the State of #SaoPaulo, which is under a full #lockdown period, have reported some food shortage and some price hike. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus #brazil
• Keeping the annoying and uncalled-for habit of giving interviews nonstop, one of the judge-ministers of the #SupremeCourt (#STF), #EdsonFachin, listed the seven symptoms of a corrupt democracy during an interview for the leftist, liberal, progressive, #FolhadeSaoPaulo (#Folha). They are [with comments], “REMILITARIZATION OF A CIVIL GOVERNMENT” [the military regime was the most stable and orderly period #Brazil had ever experienced in a long time, failed by the 'positivist' mindset and old-anti-#communism combat tactics, while the “civil” government that started in 1988 never made the country any better, so this argument per se doesn't say much], “INTIMIDATION [BY CALLS TO SHUT DOWN THE OTHER POWERS—#CONGRESS, #SENATE, AND #STF” [there was never a direct call to shut them down, but to the possibility of them being shut down due to their unconstitutional behavior, and since #Bolsonaro was elected, no actual attempt has been made and no plan to do so has ever been exposed], “MINIMIZATION OF THE VALUE OF VOTING” [the judge-ministers have been reacting positively to making the voting process even more digital, like voting by phone, which makes it even more prone to fraud, while #Bolsonaro, his allies, and his supporters support the opposite, walking toward more auditability, even if it means partially using paper], “ATTACKS AGAINST THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS” [it was the STF who censored a news outlet back on 2019, who ordered the arrest of a journalist twice in 2019 and 2020, who ordered the conservative site #TercaLivre to be mass suspended on social media platforms in 2021, who ordered the arrest of a congressman for a thought crime and also demanded all his social media accounts to be suspended in 2021; no such restricting actions were ever taken by the President #Bolsonaro; the most he has done was to harshly criticize the big old media, call them corrupt, unfair, evil, disgraceful], “ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE SALES OF WEAPONS AND THUS OF VIOLENCE” [violence in Brazil increased after the gun ban in 2005, and since #Bolsonaro was elected and a few of his pro-guns decrees passed, along with other measures, violence has decreased; also, violence numbers in countries were fire weapons are allowed don't support the judge-minister's reasoning], “NORMALIZING ADMINISTRATIVE AGENTS' CORRUPTION” [one of his administration's hallmark is the nearly total elimination of corruption, at least at the highest level] and “REFUSAL TO ACCEPT ELECTION RESULTS” [the president never refused to accept the elections' results, but expressed that if the vote can't be audited, fraud is possible].
• The tax over imported #fireweapons was going to be zero this year, but the judge-minister of the #SupremeCourt (#STF) #EdsonFachin issued an injunction order halting the decree. Another judge-minister commented that zeroing the tax and thus increasing the sales of fire weapons in #Brazil is a “RISK FOR THE STABILITY OF DEMOCRACY.” Once again, the STF ruling over things it shouldn't. #guns #gunsales #gunban #disarmament #selfdefense #fachin
• As of February 26th, the states that were imposing the lockdown were #Bahia, #DistritoFederal, #Maranhao, #Paraiba, #Pernambuco, #Piaui, #RioGrandedoSul, #Rondonia, and #SaoPaulo. Aside from the lockdown, these states' governors have another thing in common: They strongly oppose #Bolsonaro. #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• During a speech and while he was talking about the stronger #lockdown measures imposed by some governors, President #Bolsonaro said, “THE RELIEF CHECK WILL BE COMING FOR A COUPLE MORE MONTHS. THE GOVERNOR THAT DESTROYS JOBS SHOULD PAY FOR THE RELIEF CHECK. [...] THOSE WHO CLOSE EVERYTHING AND DESTROY JOBS ARE GOING AGAINST THE WISH OF THEIR PEOPLE.” #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• Writer and philosopher #OlavodeCarvalho is in hospital in the US with #pneumonia.
• Leaked messages exchanged by #LavaJato Operation prosecutors show that they had illegal access to the President #Bolsonaro family's personal information, including fiscal, right after he was elected. They laugh in several moments. The data was accessed by the COAF ('Council for Financial Activities Control') and the MP ('Public Ministry' or 'Prosecution Office'). #RobertoLeonel was in control of the COAF back then, he was assigned by #SergioMoro, and the latter got very upset when COAF was taken out of the control of his ministry by President Bolsonaro. #Leonel is behind the leaks from COAF, and he is referred in one of the messages by one prosecutor as “HE IS 1000.” 'To be 1000' is an expression that means a person helped someone else greatly; it's like saying, “He was so helpful that saying he was 100% helpful is not enough. Maybe 1000%?” #carwash #deltandallagnol #moro
• The city of #Buzios, in the State of #RiodeJaneiro, reached zero hospitalizations for #COVID. They bet strongly on prevention, not withholding themselves from making use of several medications that can possibly help avoid cases from getting too serious, like #ivermectin #hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D, zinc, etc. This example contrasts with other cities, where the number of too serious cases surpassed the number of hospital rooms. #covid19 #coronavirus
• Some #Brazil(ian) states and some cities in some states are going for a #curfew in order to stop or slow down the spread of the virus. According to the #Constitution, the curfew can only be allowed in two situations: State of Defense and State of Emergency. The State of Defense allows for the curfew in isolated areas, as long as there is a social unrest or a natural disaster that's big enough to result in lack of control by the local authorities. It can last 30 days and be extended for 30 more days. If the lack of control persists, then the State of Emergency is the next step. In this case, it allows for the curfew to be extended to areas where everything is apparently calm, and several constitutional rights are suspended, but in order for a curfew to start, the president (not a mayor or a governor) needs the #Congress' approval—this is to show you how extreme a curfew is. Beyond this point, the military intervention is the call. The virus and the rulings it has caused to be issued have resulted in all the rules regarding curfews being broken, in cities and states making decisions about putting it in place regardless of the government's direction. In other words, mayors and governors are breaking the Constitution, paving the way for a federal intervention; but, will there be? And, how long will unconstitutional actions continue to be taken for? #covid #covid19 #coronavirus
• The #Congress is discussing a bill called [Speech] Immunity Bill. It has the purpose of clarifying where the limit of the #SupremeCourt (#STF) is when it comes to its power to warrant the arrest of a congressperson for a thought crime. In its original form, the bill made it clear only the Congress Ethical Counsel could apply a punishment, but some parties, like #PT, leftist, is critical of the bill for totally leaving the judiciary out of it. At least one congressman, the infamous and often ridiculed #KimKataguiri (another politician who did a great job pre-#Bolsonaro, campaigned for him and was elected in great part because of him, but ultimately flipped 180°), came to the point of asking the STF to interfere in the Congress' affairs by ordering that this bill be prohibited from even being discussed, and one judge-minister was already chosen to analyze this possibility. #freedomofspeech

UPDATE ON #DANIELSILVEIRA'S CASE

We didn't explain in our first post about #Silveira's case the reason why he had that outburst. He was speaking in behalf of General #VillasBoas, who tweeted about the possibility of Judge-Minister #Fachin freeing the ex-president and convict criminal #Lula. He tweeted, “IN SUCH A MOMENT #BRAZIL IS GOING THROUGH, WE CAN ONLY ASK THE PEOPLE AND THE INSTITUTIONS, WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT OUR COUNTRY AND ALL THE FUTURE GENERATIONS, AND WHO'S ONLY INTERESTED IN THEIR PERSONAL GAIN?” “I CAN ASSURE THE NATION THAT THE ARMED FORCES SHARE THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE, THEIR DISGUST FOR IMPUNITY AND FOR THE DISREGARD FOR DEMOCRACY, FOR THE #CONSTITUTION, AND FOR THE SOCIAL PEACE. WE REMAIN READY TO TAKE ON OUR INSTITUTIONAL MISSION.”

General Villas-Boas hasn't said a word about Silveira's arrest, and the Military Club issued a statement called “THOUGHTS OF THE MILITARY CLUB,” containing 9 questions for reflection. The questions ask about innumerous moments the #SupremeCourt (#STF) didn't act anywhere as strong when the offenses came from the left.

A couple of other facts about Silveira's arrest: – The Judge-Minister #AlexandredeMorais ordered all #Silveira's #socialmedia accounts, even accounts as congressman (when he's still a congressman), be suspended and they were all taken down in a heartbeat; – Silveira took 2 phones with him to jail and kept using them. He's a ex-military and some people wonder why he did that. Not only this prompted them being seized, but also Judge Morais ordering a thorough investigation of the phones calls and messages; – Silveira's 180° turn from courage and determination and confidence to a pitiful and weak and self-blaming attitude (almost like begging for forgiveness, like a baby crying), considering he's an ex-military and he committed no crime, is hard to understand; – Silveira told a couple of colleagues (quantity and names not informed) that he knew he'd be arrested. His lawyer said in a video, “THERE ARE WAYS OF DOING THINGS AND THIS IS HIS WAY. HE DOESN'T DENY IT. HE SAID TO US, 'LOOK, I'M GOING TO BE ARRESTED, NO PROBLEM WITH THAT. THAT'S HOW I AM.' BUT, THE PROBLEM IS GETTING BIGGER THAN WHAT WE HAD IMAGINED. THE SITUATION IS NOT EASY;” – During his statements to Congress, Silveira said, “DUE TO POPULAR PRESSURE, AND ACTIVISTS' AND POLITICAL GROUPS' PRESSURE, WE ARE LED TO EXAGGERATE, TO BE MOVED BY AN IDEA. IT'S LIKE THAT LITTLE DEVIL THAT COMES TO YOUR EAR AND SAYS, 'GO THERE AND DO IT,' AND YOU DO IT BASED ON FEELINGS.” Who are them?

Silveira had an important role for the right. He wrote a law bill that punishes #censorship, another one to reinforce #freedomofspeech, he requested an investigation into the #votingmachines, and cowrote/cosigned several other positive bills.

As other particularities about Brazil, don't expect much to happen on the weekend, (even during a constitutional crisis).

JUDGE ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS VS CONGRESSMAN DANIEL SILVEIRA

#SupremeCourt (#STF) Judge #AlexandredeMorais issued an arrest warranty against conservative representative #DanielSilveira. Morais is infamously known (among other things) for ordering the arrest of a journalist twice, whose title of 'journalist' was ignored by him in official documents, being called a 'blogger' instead, and who got paralyzed from waist down during prison the second time.

Silveira posted a video where he says, “BE A MAN ONCE IN YOUR LIFE” [...] “YOU [JUDGE #FACHIN], [JUDGE] ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS, [JUDGE] #MARCOAURELIO, [JUDGE] #GILMARMENDES, THE ONE THAT FREES CRIMINALS ALL THE TIME, GIVES HABEAS CORPUS ALL THE TIME, SELLS HABEAS CORPUS, SELLS SENTENCINGS. 'HEY THERE! HE WAS ARRESTED? HERE, SEND HIM TO ME!' YOU DISRESPECT THE INTERNAL RULES; THIS LITTLE SUPREME COURT, WHICH IS NO SUPREME. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR YOU TO BECOME A JUDGE-MINISTER IS IN THE ARTICLE 101 OF THE #CONSTITUTION; BUT YOU ALL ARE EMPTY, INNOCUOUS, RETARDED, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE. ESPECIALLY YOU, FACHIN. YOU ARE PART OF THE VERY SHIT THAT [THE STF] IS.”

“HERE'S THE THING, FACHIN. EVERYBODY IS FULL OF YOUR SON-OF-B***H'S FACE, THIS VAGABOND'S FACE” [...] “SEVERAL TIMES I VISUALIZED YOU BEING BEATEN UP. NOT ONLY YOU, BUT ALL THIS COURT'S MEMBERS” [...] “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SAY? THAT I AM ENCOURAGING VIOLENCE? NO, I JUST IMAGINED, AND ME IMAGINING MYSELF DOING SUCH A THING, YOU KNOW IT'S” [imagining hurting someone in advance, speaking about it, but not doing it] “NOT A CRIME” [because he has an extra constitutional protection when it comes to free speech compared to a regular citizen, where he can only be punish for his speech, it doesn't matter what he says, literally, by the Congress].

“I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO WITH THE GENERALS” [...] “THE LITTLE MEN OF THE GOLDEN BUTTONS [one way leftists sarcastically refer to the military], DO YOU REMEMBER? I KNOW YOU REMEMBER; INSTITUTIONAL ACT N° 5 [#AI5]; YOU WERE A PT MILITANT, FROM A COMMUNIST PARTY, FROM THE COMMUNIST ALLIANCE OF #BRAZIL” [the AI5 was the fifth of seventeen institutional acts written during the military regime that defined the actions taken in order to reorganize the government. The AI number 5 was the most polemic, as it allowed for the dissolve of the Congress and the Senate.]

“I TOTALLY AGREE WITH [THE EX-MINISTER OF EDUCATION] #ABRAHAMWEINTRAUB WHEN HE SAID [during a ministerial meeting] 'IF IT WAS UP TO ME, I'D PUT ALL THESE VAGABONDS IN JAIL.'” [...] “I'M GOING TO GO AFTER YOU. I'M NOT AFRAID OF VAGABONDS, OF DRUG DEALERS, OF MURDERS; I'M GOING TO BE AFRAID OF 11 THAT ARE OF NO USE FOR OUR COUNTRY? NO, I WON'T. I KNOW WHO YOU WALK ALONG, WHAT YOU DO.”

After he was notified of his arrest, he recorded another video while he waited for the arrival of the federal police, in which, in part, he says, “FROM THIS POINT ON, THE LEVEL OF THE GAME IS A LITTLE HIGHER. I'M GOING TO DEDICATE EACH AND EVERY MINUTE OF MY TERM TO SHOW WHO ALEXANDRE DE MORAIS, FACHIN, MARCO AURÉLIO DE MELO, GILMAR MENDES, #TOFFOLI, #LEWANDOWSKI ARE. I'M GOING TO PUT EACH ONE OF YOU IN YOUR PLACE. I DON'T CARE. FOR MY COUNTRY, I'M WILLING TO KILL, TO DIE, TO BE ARRESTED, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE ME FEAR YOU. IT'S THE CONGRESS WHO WILL DECIDE OVER KEEPING ME ARRESTED. YOU JUST RIPPED UP THE CONSTITUTION ONCE AGAIN. I'M LETTING EVERYONE KNOW SO THAT THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, SO THAT I CAN SHOW BRAZIL WHO'S ITS ENEMY. OTHER THAN THAT, I'M GOING TO SLEEP IN JAIL, AND LET'S SEE WHAT'S NEXT. LET'S SEE WHO'S WHO. [LET'S SEE IF] IT'S [ABOUT] YOU OR [ABOUT] ME AND THE PEOPLE.

Some hours after his arrest, there was a vote in the STF to know if there was majority support, and all of them voted to keep Daniel Silveira arrested, including the vote of #Bolsonaro's appointee #KassioNunes.

We don't know if Silveira's seemingly unconstitutional arrest has anything to do with prompting this, but Bolsonaro just nominated four names for the #RepublicCouncil, among them, two military, one of them a very solid conservative, General #AugustoHeleno, currently the secretary (minister) of the Department of Institutional Security. The Republic Council is responsible for giving a final opinion on the need for a political intervention, a national defense law, or a martial law, and also for matters related to the balanced relationship of the institutions.

Dozens of big politicians and many celebrities from the left already said and expressed themselves publicly against Bolsonaro in a threatening, disrespectful, and defamatory way innumerous times and neither the STF nor any of its judges ever at least said a word condemning the acts, so Silveira's arrest seems to be one more attempt to input fear into conservatives and to pressure Bolsonaro into losing it and thus give the STF and the Congress a reason to impeach him. Judge-minister Mendes came to the point of saying in a live last year that Bolsonaro was responsible for a genocide when referring to the #pandemic. Absolutely nothing happened to him and none of his colleagues made any comments.

The document containing the order for the arrest says that the video justifies an arrest warranty for a flagrant act, since the video is still circulating. We, the TBB, had a lot of difficulty to find the original video. We could only find clips and read transcripts in order to write this post. Even the channel where it was posted no longer exists. According to the Article 53 of Section V of the Constitution, the STF is responsible for ultimately certifying congresspeople's and senators' election. After that, the STF no longer has power over them. If they are caught committing an unbailable crime, then the most the STF can do is to ask the Congress to act.

The Congress is supposed to receive from the STF the formal accusation within 24 hours so that it can be taken to a vote in order to be decided if the arrest is acceptable. Some are citing the Articles 22 and 23 of the National Security Law, which say that one can be arrested for inciting violence, instability among institutions, or threatening animosity between the people and government institutions, punishable with 1 to 4 years in jail.

In the 2005 edition of Alexandre de Morais' own book 'Constitutional Rights' he quotes the words of another person to illustrate how congresspeople have their speech protected, where it says they can't be arrested for “THOUGHT OR WORD CRIMES, SUCH AS CRIME AGAINST THE HONOR, CRIME INCITEMENT, ORAL DISRESPECT FOR RELIGION, ETC.”

The judge-minister Marco Aurélio stated, referring to the Congress vote, “CONGRESSPEOPLE WILL BE ACCOUNTED FOR IN 2022 IF THEY FREE A RIGHTWING FANATIC AND POPULIST [COLLEAGUE].”

All Daniel Silveira's social media pages were shut down on the day of his arrest.