Brazil’s Supreme Court has authorized an investigation into right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, following a decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, over alleged defamatory statements against his election rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The probe focuses on posts Bolsonaro made on social media platform X in January, in which he insinuated links between Lula and crimes, responding to news about the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Bolsonaro wrote, “Lula will be exposed,” alongside screenshots of a handcuffed Maduro and an article about Lula, and predicted the collapse of the left-wing Sao Paulo Forum due to “international drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, support for terrorists and dictatorships, rigged elections.”
Under Brazilian law, freedom of speech is limited, and defamation can constitute a criminal offense under the penal code, with prosecutors able to seek heightened penalties for defamation against presidents or heads of state. The Federal Police have been given 60 days to conduct the initial investigation. However, a spokesperson for Bolsonaro, a senator from Rio de Janeiro, denounced the probe as a violation of his rights, stating that “the senator limited himself to reporting facts and detailing crimes for which Nicolas Maduro was arrested and is being prosecuted internationally,” and that there was no “direct criminal accusation against” Lula.
Bolsonaro and Lula are currently locked in a neck-and-neck race for the presidency ahead of October’s general election. A poll released this week by research firm Quaest shows Lula slightly ahead in the first round, with 37% support compared to Bolsonaro’s 32%. However, if the race proceeds to a run-off, Bolsonaro polls slightly ahead, netting 42% support against Lula’s 40%. The poll has a margin of error of about 2%, making the results inconclusive, with nearly five and a half months remaining until the first round of voting on October 4.
Both candidates are well-known figures in Brazil’s political sphere: the 80-year-old Lula is running for a fourth term, having previously served as president from 2003 to 2011 and defeating incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio’s father, in the 2022 election. The elder Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting to subvert the results of that election. The margins were tight in the 2022 run-off, and then-President Bolsonaro refused to concede defeat, alleging “malfunctions” in electronic voting machines that favored Lula, leading to street protests by his supporters, road blockades, and attacks on police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia.
The unrest culminated in an attack on January 8, 2023, against government buildings in the capital, seen as an attempt to trigger a military uprising against Lula’s leadership. Former President Bolsonaro was later convicted in September 2024 of plotting to stay in power, with prosecutors presenting evidence that he and his allies explored options including calling a new election and assassinating Lula. He has denied wrongdoing and accused his adversaries of a political witch-hunt. In December 2024, his eldest son Flavio, 44, entered the 2026 presidential race with his father’s endorsement, suggesting he would seek his father’s freedom as part of his campaign. Earlier this year, Lula vetoed a bill that would have lowered Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence, denouncing his predecessor’s actions as a coup attempt.
Source: www.aljazeera.com