After remaining silent, the Supreme Court sets the right course against Bolsonaro's militia.

By Marcelo Auler, on his Blog

Arrested on Friday (June 26th) in Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, blogger Oswaldo Eustáquio, 42, officially presents himself as an "investigative journalist, passionate about the truth, an enemy of corruption, and a conservative." Regardless of his professional qualifications, the fact is that his posts are far from the truth he claims to be passionate about.

His arrest stems from the investigation of Inquiry (INQ 4828) underway at the Supreme Federal Court (STF). This inquiry investigates the organization and, primarily, the financing of “anti-democratic” acts. But Eustáquio, like most of the other individuals investigated and arrested in the same investigation – Sara Fernanda Girimoni (Sara Winter), Emerson Rui Barros dos Santos, Érica Vianna de Souza, Renan de Morais Souza, and Arthur Castro – are also inextricably linked to the investigation of INQ 4781, which revolves around the dissemination of fake news and attacks on the court and its ministers.

Eustáquio, who claims to be a journalist, is actually a disseminator of false news or news without proper investigation, with ambiguous messages. Everything that falls under the umbrella of so-called fake news is attributed to him. He is attributed with a long list of false news stories, many of them defaming the honor of others. Because of some of them, he was even convicted in court, forced to remove posts from social media and compensate his victims. This is what happened with journalist Glenn Greenwald, as reported by Fórum magazine (Oswaldo Eustaquio is ordered to pay 15 for offending Glenn Greenwald's mother).

One of his most recent news stories (see illustration above) was published on the Corpus Christi holiday (Thursday, June 11th) concerning the murder of lawyer Igor Martinho Kalluf, 40, at a convenience store in the Batel neighborhood of Curitiba (PR). The crime occurred around 6:00 PM. A few hours later, even before any serious journalistic investigation, Eustáquio, a staunch Bolsonaro supporter, rushed to social media in an attempt to implicate former minister and former judge Sérgio Moro in the crime.

Erroneous speech

Without any facts to support his false claim, as was later proven and reported by the BLOG on Saturday, June 13th, in Crime in Curitiba: an example of the society Bolsonaro wants..

Theoretically, Eustáquio and his allies can even claim that there was no lie. But the ambiguity of the information was intended to implicate the former minister, now a political adversary of these extremist Bolsonaro groups, in a crime in which he had no involvement whatsoever.

The discourse of those who criticize the investigations that Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) is presiding over, focusing on the most radical Bolsonaro groups, has the wrong bias. They are wrongly waving the banner of freedom of expression, as if this allowed for false, dubious information, insinuations without proof, attacks on the honor of others, or advocates authoritarian measures against the democratic rule of law.

The same discourse is made by none other than the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, which contributes to the suspicion of many that he aligns himself, sometimes in a camouflaged way, with the causes of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Undoubtedly, Aras demonstrates resentment towards INQ 4781. He disagrees with the way it was initiated, despite its validity having been confirmed by 10 ministers of the STF (Supreme Federal Court). Therefore, he criticizes it using the same arguments as radical groups. As shown in Caio Junqueira's report – CNN has access to the fake news investigation. – presented on the television channel and published on its website. There, Aras's statement in the inquiry is listed as follows:

“A reading of these statements demonstrates that, despite their incisive content in some cases, they are unmistakably distinct from the practice of slander, libel, or defamation against members of the Supreme Federal Court. In reality, they represent the dissemination of opinions and worldviews, protected by freedom of expression under the terms of Justice Celso de Mello's decision in Pet-MC 8.830/DF. This fundamental right, which has received attention in several of the constitutional provisions, is widely considered essential to the soundness of the democratic regime and the republican principle.”

Although, as Aras said, "the free circulation of ideas and public debate are fundamental to guaranteeing an open society, in which different worldviews are respected equally," what cannot be allowed is for freedom of expression to be used for anti-democratic preaching.

And the proof that the investigation into fake news, attacks on other branches of government, and the organization of anti-democratic acts is on the right track, reaching the so-called hard core of Bolsonaro's support on social media, is the reaction that those affected are having: they are deleting their posts.

Further evidence was reported by journalists Marcelo Godoy, Pedro Venceslau, and Daniel Bramatti, in The State of São Paulo, in the Sunday edition (June 28), in Bolsonaro's allies try to isolate extremists.They report:

“After failing in its offensive to stop the actions of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Bolsonaro's supporters are now proposing a détente between institutions and seeking to isolate radical groups that advocate “military intervention,” with the closure of Congress and the Court. In circles closest to the president, the move is justified by the assessment that extremists, such as Sara Geromini, are “contaminating” the pro-government movements.”

The decision to distance themselves from these groups came after actions by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) that led to the arrest of extremists and the lifting of confidentiality restrictions on Bolsonaro supporters and parliamentarians, in addition to the arrest of Fabrício Queiroz, identified by the Public Prosecutor's Office as the financial operator for Flávio Bolsonaro (Republicanos-RJ) in the "rachadinha" scheme.

Continue reading at Marcelo Auler's Blog.