Brazil's congressman charged of encouraging rape
The First Class of the Supreme Court (STF) received today (Jun. 21) a complaint filed by the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGR) and by criminal charges pressed by congresswoman Maria do Rosário against congressman Jair Bolsonaro. With the decision, the lawmaker will be charged of encouraging the crime of rape and of insult.
On December 9, 2014, during a speech on the floor of the national legislature, Bolsonaro said he would not rape congresswoman Maria do Rosário just because she was "not worthy of it." On the following day, the representative repeated comments in an interview to a newspaper from Rio Grande do Sul, which is the state that the congresswoman represents.
Justice Luiz Fux, in charge of both cases, considered that Bolsonaro's remarks had the potential for encouraging men to commit violence against women in general. In the justice's view, the expression "worthy of it," used by the deputy, gives the idea of rape as "a prize, a favor, or a boon," that depends only on man's will.
"We worry about his remarks because they not only threaten the women's dignity, but also consider victims worthy of their suffering. By the remarks, we perceive the defendant's contempt for the severe consequences in building the female subjectivity, resulting from rape and the dramatic consequences of this extreme violence," said Fux.
According to the justice, even though Bolsonaro enjoys parliamentary immunity, which protects his speech opinions and votes in congress, he repeated his comments in a newspaper interview, and the immunity would no longer be applied.
Fux vote was followed by the majority of the First Class justices. Justice Luís Roberto Barroso added that parliamentary immunity does not allow to violate people's dignity.
Justice Marco Aurélio, the dissenting vote, considered that the facts are part of disagreements between both lawmakers. For him, it is "regrettable" that the Supreme Court "wastes time" on judging the case, because parliamentary immunity shall be applied to the facts.
Defense
The defense claimed that congressman Bolsonaro did not encourage rape, but only reacted to insults offered by the congresswoman to the armed forces during a ceremony honoring human rights. For lawyers, the political struggle between Maria do Rosário and Bolsonaro happened in the Congress building and parliamentary immunity, preventing criminal charging for his remarks, must be applied.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: Brazil's congressman charged of encouraging rape