Supreme Court Orders Ministry of Justice to Suspend Production of Government Reports against Opponents

Justices forbid Bolsonaro administration action, but exempt current minister, André Mendonça

Brasília

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ruled, on Thursday (20), that the Ministry of Justice must suspend the production of reports against members of the anti-fascist movement or against any other political opponent that acts within the law.

Justices criticized the survey on police and teacher behavior prepared by the Jair Bolsonaro government portfolio and banned the monitoring of situations based on citizens' "personal and political choices."

Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Credito:STF no Youtube - STF no Youtube

The trial was resumed on Thursday with the vote of Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Besides him, Edson Fachin, Luís Roberto Barroso, Rosa Weber and Luiz Fux, Ricardo Lewandowski, Gilmar Mendes and Dias Toffoli also accompanied the rapporteur, Cármen Lúcia.

Justice Marco Aurélio was the only one to disagree and defend the rejection of the lawsuit presented by the Network.

UOL revealed the existence of the report on July 24. In charge of the Ministry of Justice, the survey targeted 579 police officers and teachers across the country who called themselves anti-fascists.

Moraes said that the report is precarious and looks more like a "journalistic clipping," but noted that there was a deviation in purpose in the ministry's work.

"It is more for gossip than for an intelligence report, but it could move in a more professional and more dangerous sense," he said.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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