AP 470: a simulation

The movie MATRIX introduces us to the book “Simulation and mock-ups"by Jean Baudrillard. Right at the beginning of the film, the protagonist picks up the book, which he uses to conceal his illegal activity (besides being a respectable programmer at a major company, he is a computer hacker who illegally penetrates computer systems and steals information). At that moment in the film, the book isn't really a book... Well, the philosophical categories it addresses (simulation and simulacrum) guide it and give the Wachowski siblings' work a special dimension."

Jean Baudrillard, who began his career as a professor of sociology at the University of Nanterre in Paris, gained prominence with the publication of the book "Forgetting Foucault" and later gained fame and popularity by decreeing "the end times" His theories on the power of media in postmodern society are worth reading.

And in the work “Simulation and mock-upsHe states that Reality has ceased to exist; we have come to live in a representation of reality, disseminated in postmodern society by the media.Baudrillard defends the theory that We live in an era where symbols carry more weight and power than reality itself.From this phenomenon arise "simulacra," poorly made simulations of reality that, paradoxically, are more attractive to the viewer than the object being reproduced itself.

I make this introduction to affirm, once again, that AP 470 is procedurally null and void and philosophically nothing more than a simulacrum. 

Why? 

Because there is a simulation of a criminal trial, a poorly conceived imitation of the process (something that exists in the real world), but in this case we are dealing with... simulacrum and not a real process. The process seeks, even ideally, to state the law and achieve justice, not to meet the demands of the media or its funders.

It is possible to state that it is a simulacrumbecause the defendants were convicted first. Former minister José Dirceu, in particular, was convicted. Even before the Public Prosecutor's Office files charges, before the defenses are presented, before appeals and the final decision (note that I am not talking about the innocence or guilt of the defendants – that is another debate – but about conviction). beforehand).

This happened because the Supreme Court, pressured by sectors of the media, "had to find a way" to convict the defendants, with or without evidence; otherwise, it would be ridiculed by a significant portion of the press.  

I am not alone in this opinion. Professor Ada Pellegrini from USP, among many other legal experts, stated that the media always prejudges. And in the case of the Mensalão scandal, it prejudged, because the person who meets the media's expectations becomes the national hero, and whoever doesn't becomes the villain. This is a very serious problem, seen especially in criminal cases. The Mensalão scandal is a criminal case, and the pressure from the media – which shapes public opinion – was never in the direction of... "to ascertain the facts"", but always of "condemn the corrupt""There you have the condemnation." beforehand. 

Would this be a contemporary example that confirms Jean Baudrillard's theory? 

I think so, because his theory states that we live in an era where Symbols They have more weight and more strength than the body itself. reality, or that This is confirmed in AP 470 insofar as the Rapporteur had to import a theory and apply it (and did so incorrectly according to Claus Roxin) to convict one of the defendants, all to cater to what had become important, which were the symbols and not the reality.

The fact is that AP 470 simulacrum, because it presented the country with a non-existent truth, and the simulacrum is never what hides the truth, it is the truth that it hides that does not exist. 

We simply need to reflect on the truth that AP 470 hides... Non-existent truths and realities.

Pedro Benedito Maciel Neto, 49, lawyer, partner at MACIEL NETO ADVOCACIA, professor and author of “Reflections on the study of law”, Ed. Komedi, 2007