Can Leonardo Sakamoto Bolsonaro Grant Himself a Presidential Pardon to Avoid Arrest? 23.12.2022 16:39

As usual, Presidents proclaim the Christmas amnesty. In recent years, Jair Bolsonaro has focused on pardoning security guards convicted of crimes. From the beginning, it has rejuvenated and rescued the 74 police officers involved in the Carandiru massacre this Friday (23). But he still did not manage to rule out the possibility of punishing himself or his son without a privileged jurisdiction – which led to moments of detention.

The president’s allies have advocated for the approval of an amnesty for actions he has taken over the past four years that have the potential to make him a defendant as soon as he loses the privileged court. Others want something more colorful: Jair bestows a presidential pardon before leaving power for (yet) unfulfilled convictions.

From decisions that put public health at risk during the pandemic, to the systematic attack on democratic institutions and the electronic voting process, through the intervention of the Federal Police investigation into the case of bribery collection by priests at the Ministry of Education, you have reason to fear xylindró.

Analyzes by both the Federal Court of Auditors and the Lula government’s transition team indicate that the inclusion of millions of families of just one person among the beneficiaries occurred without the implementation of measures to prevent fraud amid the presidential election needs. In other words, improper billionaire payments to support the campaign, which can lead to criminal liability.

Jair’s protection has not progressed in Congress, as has other creative initiatives, such as giving former presidents the position of senator for life with all the immunity the position provides. It is worth remembering that amnesties are usually granted for political issues, not for common accusations against him.

Temer proposed an amnesty to Bolsonaro by the new government as “a gesture of harmony in the country”. This, of course, should be seen as a fictional production of the former president. What if Lula wasn’t crazy enough to do such a thing that would mean interfering with the judiciary. Second, if he did, he would see a revolt among his constituents and his allies that would result in the Condensed Milk Civil War. Third, because with 693,000 deaths from covid-19 it’s impossible to “adapt”.

Meanwhile, in the most radical Bolsonarism, the idea of ​​foregoing self-forgiveness circulates, a figure absent in the Brazilian legal system.

The reference to self-forgiveness came from the hero of the “legend”, now former President Donald Trump, who threatened to pardon himself when leaving the US government. I feared that this, as it really was, would spill over both Joe Biden’s invasion of Congress on January 6, 2021 to try to prevent the completion of his victory, and his attempts to illegally interfere with the electoral process. He ended up giving up on this idea.

Bolsonaro allies cite the pardon given by him to federal lawmaker Daniel “Surra de Gato Morto” Silveira as a precedent (PTB-RJ), on 21 April, the day after he was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison by the STF for coercion in the process and attempting to impede the free exercise of powers. Critics argue that the bounty granted solely for the purpose of interfering with the judiciary is unconstitutional.

The corner met with two members of the attorney general’s office. The issue of self-forgiveness was indeed to be called into question, but both are subject to Article 84 XII of the Federal Constitution. He recalled the benefit of grace (individual) and pardon (collective) envisaged in his article, which can be granted spontaneously by the president. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, it only affects those who have already been convicted.

And Bolsonaro has not been convicted of any of these crimes – again, none of them has yet been convicted. The same goes for congressman Carlos Bolsonaro, who was in charge of communications on his father’s networks and was appointed leader of a digital militia. True to its name, Carluxo does not enjoy privileged status, unlike his brothers, Senator Flávio and Federal Deputy Eduardo.

Bolsonaro not impeached for getting help

The only reason the president wasn’t impeached, and probably not arrested, was because he had the support of the center at the National Convention and the indifference of Attorney General Augusto Aras – the protection expires on December 31.

The arrest of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who tried to stage a coup on December 7, increased the Brazilian’s anguish over what would happen to him if he lost the privileged forum at the end of the year.

Her fear has been publicly displayed numerous times when compared to another South American leader: Bolivia’s former president, Jeanine Añez, was convicted of a coup d’etat in June of this year.

“The group lost, Evo Morales’s group is back. What happened a year ago? And it went even further: “What’s the blame? Anti-democratic actions. Has anyone made any connections between Alexandre de Moraes and investigations into anti-democratic action? So, is it a threat to me if I leave the government?” There are at least two other times when he compares himself to Añez.

From the beginning of the year, investigations against the current president will go down to first-instance court unless the STF and PGR decide to keep them for ties to other public representatives with jurisdiction.

PL has pledged to support Jair’s lawyers. Valdemar da Costa Neto got a surprisingly bad deal.