In response to the boycott during election broadcast time, Mendonça requested the arrest of Edivan.

Valter Lima, from Sergipe 247 - Federal deputy Mendonça Prado (DEM) even asked for the arrest of the political leader of the opposition group, Edivan Amorim (PR), whom he accuses of preventing him from being included in the electoral radio and TV broadcasts of the coalition to which they both belong and which has Eduardo Amorim (PSC) as its candidate for governor. After being left out of five programs, Mendonça, who is running for re-election, was included in the broadcast last Saturday (30), by court order.

Electoral judge Lidiane Vieira Menezes summoned Edivan and Eduardo to explain their boycott of Mendonça and established a daily fine of R$ 20 in case of non-compliance with the decision. She also ordered the return of double the airtime lost by Mendonça in the electoral programs.

The controversial exclusion of the DEM congressman from the electoral campaign occurred because he refused to ask for votes on radio and TV for Eduardo Amorim. Therefore, the group's leader, Edivan Amorim, decided that he would not appear in the election broadcasts. The same happened with other parliamentarians, such as state deputies Capitão Samuel (PSL) and Goretti Reis (DEM). But they did not appeal to the courts. In Goretti's case, after not appearing in the first programs, she agreed to ask for votes for Amorim, even though she supports the gubernatorial candidate Jackson Barreto (PMDB).

Immediately after the first day of the election program, upon not being included in the advertising, Mendonça filed a lawsuit with the Regional Electoral Court, which granted him an initial injunction on August 20th, ordering the inclusion of his program on TV and radio and establishing a daily fine of R$ 5.

But the coalition did not comply with the decision and continued not to air Mendonça's program. Therefore, he again demanded a more severe stance from the Justice system. That's when he requested the arrest of Edivan Amorim.

"Through the separate document, the representative [Mendonça Prado] reports the repeated non-compliance with the preliminary injunction, stating that the defendants did not broadcast their program during the electoral period on the 21st, 23rd, and 25th of this month, for which reason he requests: the arrest in flagrante delicto of José Edivan do Amorim, based on the grounds of committing the crime foreseen in articles 332 and 347 of the Electoral Code; if this is not the understanding, he requests the preventive detention of the aforementioned candidate, alleging that his freedom constitutes a danger to the maintenance of public order and the application of criminal law; forwarding of the crime report and accompanying documents to the Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office," states the judge's report, dated August 28th.

"Enmity"

In her report, the judge also stated that "it cannot be tolerated that the holder of de facto control (candidate or not) over the airing of campaign advertisements during election time, for personal or any other reason, prevents a particular candidate from using the space to which they are entitled to publicize their candidacy to the electorate, an attitude that simultaneously violates the principle of equality and jeopardizes the integrity of the electoral process."

The judge points out that the electoral legislation governing campaign advertising imposes limitations on the broadcast of electoral programs, such that it is not permitted, for example, for candidates for majoritarian positions to encroach on the airtime of candidates for proportional positions, and vice versa. "This is stipulated in Article 53-A of Law No. 9.504/97," she states.

However, she points out that "this does not prevent, in order to maintain harmony between the branches of government, the mere reference to or linking of a candidate for a majoritarian position during time slots designated for proportional representation candidates, provided that this is not distorted."

First program

In his first appearance on TV and radio during the election campaign, Mendonça Prado said that he was presenting himself to voters "with a clear conscience of duty fulfilled" and because he is "a parliamentarian who is not facing any legal proceedings, therefore a clean-record congressman, just as people want for Brazil."

While he was off the air, the congressman harshly criticized Edivan Amorim, even using dozens of sound trucks throughout the state to denounce his exclusion from the election broadcast schedule.