The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to make a decision on whether he is interested in giving interviews to the media.
Moraes’ decision comes, on Tuesday (2/12), after a newspaper asked the STF for permission for the possibility of making Bolsonaro’s statements to the press during this period in which he remains imprisoned in Federal Police (PF) surveillance, in Brasilia, after his conviction in the coup plot operation.
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Moraes explains in the decision that the first request, submitted by the “Conexão Politica” portal, was issued the day after Bolsonaro’s arrest, on November 26, when he asked for permission, under copyright, “to authorize a journalistic interview with the re-educated Jair Messias Bolsonaro.”
The former president has been at home since August 4 due to non-compliance with precautionary measures related to another investigation, and since then the politician has not made any statements to the press, only external letters conveyed by his children.
“Both (media) equally, in the files of the criminal procedure 2668 / DF, regularly summon the lawyers appointed by Jair Mesías Bolsonaro, including by electronic means, to inform them if the defendant is interested in conducting the reference interview, within 5 (five) days,” Moraes informed in the decision.
Moraes sent a general statement to news portals, which had also previously requested an interview with Bolsonaro. In the decision, at least 10 telecom companies were cited – incl Capitals.
If they want to have a recorded conversation with the former president, the portals must inform Bolsonaro’s defense lawyers of the possibility of an interview. Furthermore, the former president’s lawyer must inform him if he is interested in speaking with any journalists.
The requested interview could be audio and video, if there is approval from the defence, which must see the protocols for the dialogue between Bolsonaro and journalists, and the STF will report on whether it will authorize it.
When Bolsonaro was spending his stay at his home in open order, due to non-compliance with precautionary measures, Moraes ordered that the former president be banned from using social media, including “broadcasting, rebroadcasting or broadcasting audio recordings, videos or transcripts of interviews on any third-party social media platforms.”
One of the reasons cited for Bolsonaro’s arrest at his home at the time was the former president’s appearance at a right-wing demonstration, after federal representative Nicolas Ferreira called him in the middle of the political event, and he waved indirectly to the protesters.
Currently, with the cases of the first group of defendants in the coup plot now final, Bolsonaro will remain imprisoned at the National Front’s control body in Brasilia, having in the process been named the leader of the coup criminal organization aimed at keeping him in power after the 2022 elections.