Majority of the Supreme Court confirms decision on blocking public roads

The plenary of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) formed, in the beginning of the afternoon of today (12), a majority of 6 votes to 0 to maintain the decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who yesterday (11) ordered the Public Security forces of the entire country, including the military police, to prevent any attempt to block urban roads and highways or occupy public buildings. The case is judged in the virtual plenary, and the other ministers have until 23:59 this Thursday to vote. So far, the rapporteur has been accompanied by ministers Edson Fachin, Gilmar Mendes, Luiz Fux, Dias Toffoli and Ricardo Lewandowski. The decision complied with the request of the attorney general of the Union, Jorge Messias, who asked for measures to be taken in the face of the call for coup acts for Wednesday (11) across the country. In the petition, the AGU attached flyers and messages from extremist groups on the Telegram messaging app. Also by decision, anyone caught blocking roads and forcing entry into public buildings must be arrested in the act, also subject to a fine of R$ 20,000. If there are companies involved, the fine determined was R$ 100,000. Vehicles used must be identified and seized. Fines should be applied not only to those who directly participate in these acts, but also to those who promote incitement, including electronically, or who provide material support (logistic and financial) to demonstrations aimed at attacking the Democratic State of Law. The decision also ordered Telegram to block accounts, channels and groups listed by the AGU in the petition sent to the Supreme Court, within two hours of notification, under penalty of a fine of BRL 100,000 per day. The registration information of the accounts and all their content and that of the groups involved must be sent to the Supreme Court and preserved by the platform. Vote In this Thursday’s vote (12), followed by the majority of the Supreme, Moraes replicated his injunction (provisional decision). In it, he wrote that the information provided by the AGU “demonstrates the existence of a criminal organization that aims to destabilize republican institutions”. The minister stressed the existence of “a virtual network of supporters who act, in a systematic way, to create or share messages that have as their final motto the overthrow of the democratic structure and the rule of law in Brazil”. In the request he made to the Supreme Court, the attorney general warned that the country “is on the verge of a serious situation”, similar to that observed last Sunday (8), when groups of coup-mongering radicals invaded and largely destroyed the National Congress, the Palácio do Planalto and the headquarters of the STF, public buildings located in Praça dos Três Poderes, in the center of Brasília.

Agência Brasil