Mendonça suspends Lira’s action against Renan Calheiros

Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), decided this Wednesday (31) to suspend the processing of a criminal action in which the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), accuses Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL) of crimes against honor. The case was pending in the Federal District Court after Lira sued Calheiros for statements posted on social media last year. The senator accused his political opponent of embezzling resources and interfering with the Federal Police in Alagoas. When analyzing Renan’s defense appeal, Mendonça understood that the case should be processed in the Supreme Court due to the privileged forum. The minister recalled that the Court has already defined that accusations related to the mandate of parliamentarians must be judged by the STF. “I understand the requirements that authorize the granting of the preliminary injunction to be present. In terms of non-exhaustive cognition, I see legal plausibility in the thesis that the post made by a senator of the Republic, addressing criticism in the context of a political dispute against a federal deputy, even if, in thesis, incurring possible criminal offenses, and fits the criteria set by the STF”, decided Mendonça.

Agência Brasil