To attack the Judiciary is to attack democracy, said the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) president Justice José Antonio Dias Toffoli on Monday (22nd), in reply to a remark from the elected House Representative Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP), son of presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PSL), about closing the court.

A video that shows Eduardo Bolsonaro talking about how to close the Supreme Court, that has been circulating on social media, attracted criticism. The remark was recorded in July, during a class to candidates to jobs at the Brazilian Federal Policy, in Cascavel, Paraná.

"Dude, if you want to close the STF, you know what you do? You don't even have to send a jeep. Just send a soldier and a corporal. It's not about demeaning the soldier and the corporate," Bolsonaro continues, "if you arrest a Supreme Court justice, do you think there will be any public demonstrations for a Supreme Court justice?"

Magistrates, attorneys, and politicians have disavowed the remarks. On Monday, Jair Bolsonaro said he reprimanded his son over the matter.

"I have already admonished the kid, my son; it's his fault. He has already apologized," he said, during a TV interview.

Celso de Mello, the Supreme Court longest-serving justice, called the remark "inconsequent and coup-sounding," and said that Eduardo Bolsonaro's expressive number of votes (almost two million, a new record) doesn't legitimize "charges against the political and lawful order."

On Monday night, Jair Bolsonaro sent a letter to justice Mello, saying that STF is the Constitution's guardian and "we all need to cherish the Court."

^{Translated by NATASHA MADOV}
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