Judges and prosecutors protest against abuse of authority becoming a crime.

Maiana Diniz, from Agência Brasil - Judges and prosecutors met today (1st) in front of the white hall of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in an act against bills that are being processed in the National Congress and are seen by the category as an attempt to weaken the Judiciary. Among them is PLS 280/2016, authored by the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, which defines the crimes of abuse of authority.

The demonstration was scheduled for 14 PM, the same time a session of the Court was planned to evaluate a complaint filed by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) against the senator in 2013. The president of the National Association of Members of the Public Prosecutor's Office (Conamp), Norma Cavalcanti, explained that the call for the event was made by the Associative Front of the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office, composed of nine national associations.

In the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Gilmar Mendes mocked the protest. Watch:

 

The judges' protest occupied a large part of the Supreme Court building. Security guards even allowed participants to protest under the STF's awning and circulate freely around the building without having to obey the barriers. A small contingent of the Military Police remained stationed in the Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Powers Square).

The protesters' speeches were focused, especially, on the changes made by federal deputies, in the early hours of Wednesday (30), to the bill of 10 Measures Against Corruption, proposed by the Federal Public Ministry with the support of more than 2 million people.

"What motivates today's action is the revolt and indignation, both ours and that of society, with what has been happening in the National Congress. We know that a portion of the senators and deputies have this objective of burying the Public Prosecutor's Office and weakening the judiciary and the judicial system as a whole. The approval of that text in the early hours of Wednesday morning, in the dead of night, was a real slap in the face of society; that is what we are protesting against," said the president of the National Association of Labor Prosecutors, Ângelo Fabiano Farias da Costa.

"And yesterday, we almost suffered another blow when Senator Renan Calheiros tried to approve the urgency request for that matter approved in the dead of night by the Chamber of Deputies," he said. According to him, it was the "common sense" of a large part of the senators that prevented the "coup."

Watch the video of the judges' protest:

 

The president of the Brazilian Association of Magistrates (AMB), João Ricardo Costa, said that the demonstration is symbolic to show Brazilian society the meaning of what occurred in the early hours of Wednesday. "It is an act of protection for the Brazilian judicial system, so that it can function and fulfill its institutional role. The bill approved by the deputies ends the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office, it ends the constitutional function of this branch of government, which was one of the greatest achievements of the modern state and a Brazilian achievement in the 88 Constitution," he assessed.

After the demonstrations, the group sang the National Anthem and "embraced" the Supreme Federal Court (STF). At the end of the event, the demonstrators submitted an open letter to the STF from the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Office against corruption and impunity.

"We want to raise awareness among the Supreme Court justices so that they join this battle against the weakening of the Brazilian justice system. Corruption and illegality cannot prevail," said Ângelo da Costa, after emphasizing that the magistrates' agenda "is not corporate, it is social."