Rio-2016 Committee Loses Appeal - Protests Allowed to Continue During Olympics
The Rio-2016 Committee lost its first appeal in its attempt to overturn an injunction permitting political manifestations during the Games.
In the first few days of the Olympics, some spectators showed up with posters criticizing interim President Michel Temer (PMDB) and were subsequently removed from the arenas.
Organizers had been using the Olympic law and event regulations to prohibit any kind of visual protest.
The injunction was granted by Federal Judge Augusto Carneiro Araújo last Monday night (the 8th).
The Committee's legal department requested a review, which is an interlocutory appeal, to try to get it overturned but didn't succeed.
According to Rio-2016 another motion will be filed, this time a second appeal.
Last Saturday (the 6th), Military Police in Minas Gerais removed 12 spectators from their seats at the Minerão Stadium during a soccer match in the female tournament between the United States and France, due to their political protest against interim President Michel Temer.
In the opening ceremony, Temer had tried, without succeeding, to avoid being booed by the spectators.
The Olympic law and internal competition rules prohibit any type of political or religious interference at sports facilities. Last Sunday (the 6th), the Rio-2016 Committee had announced its support for the action of the Military Police at the Minerão.
Translated by LLOYD HARDER