The court grants Souto the right to reply on Rui's Facebook page.

The Electoral Court granted the right of reply to gubernatorial candidate Paulo Souto (DEM) because of a publication made by his PT opponent, Rui Costa, of "untrue, offensive, slanderous, defamatory and injurious" content on Facebook about the revitalization process of Pelourinho; unprecedented because it involves a social network, the injunction determines the publication of Paulo Souto's reply within a maximum period of 48 hours, starting from Thursday (15), remaining available for access by internet users for a period of eight days.

August 15, 2014, 18:21 PMUpdated May 27, 2019, 10:06 AM

The Electoral Court granted the right of reply to gubernatorial candidate Paulo Souto (DEM) because of a publication made by his PT opponent, Rui Costa, of "untrue, offensive, slanderous, defamatory and injurious" content on Facebook about the revitalization process of Pelourinho; unprecedented because it involves a social network, the injunction determines the publication of Paulo Souto's reply within a maximum period of 48 hours, starting from Thursday (15), remaining available for access by internet users for a period of eight days (Photo: Romulo Faro)

Bahia 247 - The Electoral Court granted the right of reply to gubernatorial candidate Paulo Souto (DEM), from the 'United for Bahia' coalition, due to a publication made by his PT opponent, Rui Costa, on Facebook containing "untrue, offensive, slanderous, defamatory and injurious" content about the revitalization process of Pelourinho.

Unprecedented because it involves a social network, the injunction, issued by Judge Márcio Reinaldo de Miranda Braga, determines that Paulo Souto's response be published within a maximum period of 48 hours, starting on Thursday (15), and will be available for internet users to access for a period of eight days.

According to the opposition coalition's lawyer, Lílian Reis, in the magistrate's understanding, the opponent's campaign exceeded the limits of political criticism, offending the image and honor of the Democratic candidate. On Sunday (10), the Court had already ordered the removal of the same content, posted by the PT member on August 07. The decision was complied with on the same date as the granting of the injunction.

The president of the 'United for Bahia' coalition, José Carlos Aleluia (DEM), reiterated his warning that "the PT's dirty tricks will not be tolerated" by the opposition, which has confidence in the power of the Justice system to enforce electoral legislation.

"Desperation is taking hold of the PT members. As if the attempts to deceive the electorate with the dissemination of manipulated polls weren't enough, they are also cowardly insisting on defaming and slandering our candidate. The PT needs to understand that the people of Bahia are tired of this," Aleluia stated.