Inquiry into rallies against Congress, top court approved

Protests may have breached the National Security Law

Published on 22/04/2020 - 11:32 By Agência Brasil - Brasília

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday (Apr. 21) approved the request of the Prosecutor-General’s Office to open an inquiry into the protests calling for a military intervention and the shutdown of Congress and the Supreme Court itself.

In his motion, Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras says he plans to investigate possible violations of the National Security Law during the demonstrations on Sunday (19), Army Day. The alleged involvement of federal representatives makes it a matter for the Supreme Court.

“The Brazilian state only accepts a single ideology—that of the participatory democratic regime. Any assault on democracy is an affront to the Constitution and the National Security Law,” the motion reads.

In a note released by the top court, Moraes kept probes classified, as had been requested by Aras, and referred to the facts related by the Prosecutor-General’s Office as “most serious,” as they target the democratic state of the law. He also mentioned that the Constitution does not allow the funding and the spread of ideas contrary to the Constitutional order and the democratic rule of the law, or the staging of rallies aiming to disrupt this regime.

In the note, the Supreme Court justice argued “it is crucial to ascertain the existence of organizations and funding schemes for demonstrations against democracy and the large-scale spread of messages attacking the republican regime and its administration, leadership, organization, and promotion, aiming to harm or endanger fundamental rights, bringing in as a result the nefarious shroud of arbitrariness and dictatorship.”

Rallies

On Sunday (19), when Army Day was celebrated, demonstrations in several cities called for the reopening of businesses and the end of social isolation measures as a result of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus.

In Brasília, protesters carried banners and shouted slogans requesting the shutdown of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the return of the Institutional Act 5, or AI-5, which was used in the military regime to punish dissidents and strip Congress members of office.

President Jair Bolsonaro attended the demonstrations in Brasília and spoke to protesters.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Fábio Massalli / Nira Foster

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