Gilmar versus Lula: from accuser to accused

Minas 247 - Right after the magazine edition Veja As the news broke, the first reactions seen, heard, and read in the media were condemnations of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. As is known, he was accused of... Veja for allegedly blackmailing Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Gilmar Mendes. On Sunday and Monday, shortly after the controversy began, the prevailing opinion was that Lula had committed a very serious error that could have generated an institutional crisis. The opposition began demanding his testimony before the Cachoeira Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry.

Gradually, however, the seesaw of public opinion – or of the media, if you prefer – began to shift. Influential journalists and people connected to the legal world began to question the Supreme Court minister. The portal UOL He even went so far as to question Gilmar's statements in an interview with TV Globo. He released an expert report based on the minister's voice frequency, pointing out "fraudulent and suspicious" passages.

This Thursday, for example, the experienced journalist Jânio de Freitas touched on a delicate subject even for those who defend Gilmar Mendes in the case: “The meeting, in Nelson Jobim's office, was on April 26th. Why did Gilmar Mendes only want to give "Veja" his version of what Lula allegedly told him a month later?”, the journalist questions in his column in [publication name]. Folha de S. Paul.

The question is valid. If Lula did not commit blackmail, there is no accusation, only the personal statement of a citizen in a private conversation. If there was blackmail, and if that is serious, why did Gilmar Mendes take a month to realize it? PSOL, which had previously joined PSDB, DEM, and PPS in requesting an investigation into Lula's conduct, filed a complaint questioning Mendes's conduct. Public servant Cícero Batista Araújo Rôla, who is affiliated with the PT and secretary-general of the CUT in the Federal District, registered a request for the minister's impeachment with the Senate presidency.

Lula's allies, initially paralyzed by the news – many quietly criticizing the fact that the former president was meeting with a rival of the PT party, and in the office of another rival, former minister Nelson Jobim – gradually launched an attack. President Dilma Rousseff, during the presentation of the Millennium Development Goals Brazil Award, paid tribute to her predecessor: "People in the right places at the right time change processes and transform reality," stated the president, proposing the tribute. The audience gave a standing ovation and chanted in unison, "Olé, olá… Lula, Lula."

Even a Supreme Court justice weighed in on the controversy. More than that: he defended Lula and criticized his colleague on the Supreme Court. Marco Aurélio Mello, the second most senior of the 11 justices, considered it "legitimate" and "normal" for Lula to express his opinion on the most convenient date for the Mensalão trial. "First, because he is a layman in the area of ​​law. Second, because he is a member of the PT. Therefore, if the process involves people linked to the PT, obviously, if a conviction occurs, it will have repercussions in the municipal elections."

A similar opinion was expressed days earlier by the jurist and USP professor Dalmo Dallari. In an interview with 247Dallari, a former adversary of Gilmar Mendes, stated: "Even though Lula made references to the mensalão scandal, it's doubtful whether this would have such significant legal implications, as it appears to have been an informal conversation held at the home of a mutual friend."

The Venezuelan Embassy in Brazil has taken to the field condemning Gilmar Mendes. It was responding to a newspaper headline. The Globe, with a statement from the Supreme Court minister, according to which "Brazil is not Chávez's Venezuela, where the leader, when contradicted, even orders the arrest of judges."

Coming from a politician or journalist, the phrase would be nothing out of the ordinary. But coming from a member of Brazil's highest court, which maintains diplomatic relations with the aforementioned country? The Venezuelan embassy released a statement: “Resorting to misinformation to involve Venezuela in debates that concern only Brazilians is an indecent attitude – even more so coming from a minister of the highest court of our sister nation – and does not reflect the historical partnership between Brazil and Venezuela,” said the ambassador to Brazil, Maximilien Arveláiz.

Even the admittedly conservative newspaper The State of S. PaulThe newspaper, generally hostile to Lula, began to condemn Gilmar's attitude. In an editorial, it also classified the minister's denunciation as "belated," and even indirectly criticized Gilmar Mendes' alleged use of a private plane provided by Senator Demóstenes Torres (DEM): "Once, when supporting the individualized disclosure of civil servants' salaries, the current head of the STF, Carlos Ayres Britto, observed: 'It is the price one pays for choosing a public career within a republican state.' In the case of the judiciary, the price includes refusing invitations that other citizens can accept naturally."

For those who still doubt the ongoing shift in public opinion, just read the latest "cries" from the magazine's blogger. VejaReinaldo Azevedo, a major defender of the opposition's arguments against the Workers' Party government—even more so than members of the PSDB and DEM parties themselves—now states: "An operation is underway to try to destabilize Mendes and force him to recuse himself from judging the Mensalão scandal." Reinaldo goes further: "It is a broad action that finds resonance even within the court."