Justice Minister denies censoring 'Out with Temer' movement.
Brazil's acting Justice Minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said on Monday that the ban on political demonstrations in the arenas hosting the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro "is an administrative measure," but affirmed that "no restriction on freedom of expression will be admitted," which includes the "Out with Temer" slogan; "Freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed, any type of content, that must be and will be ensured. That's one thing. Another thing is this legal and administrative prohibition, which doesn't exist only on the part of the International Olympic Committee. The Supreme Federal Court understood as constitutional the prohibition of entering the venues with banners and posters," says Moraes.
Flávia Villela - reporter for Agência Brasil
The Minister of Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, said today (8) that the ban on political demonstrations in the arenas where the Olympic competitions are taking place in Rio de Janeiro is an administrative measure, but he guaranteed that no restriction on freedom of expression will be allowed.
"Freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed, any type of content, that must be and will be ensured. That's one thing. Another thing is this legal and administrative prohibition, which doesn't exist only on the part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). FIFA also obtained a specific law for this. The Supreme Federal Court understood as constitutional the prohibition of entering venues with banners and posters. This also exists in the Brazilian championship," declared Moraes, at an event at the Federal Police Superintendency in Rio de Janeiro.
The minister said, however, that people have the right to boo and "offend within political and ideological limits" whomever they want, as long as they don't disrupt the games. The IOC clarified today that the standard procedure is not to expel fans carrying signs or banners with political, religious, or commercial slogans, provided they commit to not repeating the act. This measure is stipulated in rules established by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, which expressly prohibits demonstrations "of a political and religious nature," and has already been applied in previous games.
The International Olympic Committee maintains that sport is neutral and should not be a platform for political agendas. According to the IOC, the Olympic Charter, the set of principles for the organization of the Games and the Olympic movement, stipulates that the committee must "oppose any political and commercial abuses of sport and athletes." The Charter, from 1898, states that "no political, religious or racial propaganda of any kind is permitted in any Olympic venues."
On Saturday (6), a fan was forcibly removed by the National Force during the finals of the shooting competition, at the Rio de Janeiro sambadrome, for carrying a sign with the phrase "Out with Temer". On the same day, in Belo Horizonte, ten spectators were similarly escorted out of the Mineirão for wearing t-shirts with large letters that, together, formed the same protest phrase.
According to former president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Ayres Britto, except for instances of insults or noise that could disrupt the evidence, such demonstrations are not sufficient to justify the expulsion of spectators from sporting events, as they fall under fundamental principles of freedom of expression and citizenship, as defined by the constitutional text.