Brazil's Supreme Court forms majority and rejects requests to remove justices from trial regarding attempted coup.

247 - The Supreme Federal Court (STF) has formed a majority, according to the CNN Brazil, to reject four requests that sought to remove ministers Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino, and Cristiano Zanin from judging the complaint filed by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) regarding the attempted coup d'état in 2022. 

The president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, was the rapporteur for the requests and voted against all of them. The first request, filed by the defense of General Mario Fernandes, contested the participation of Flávio Dino, alleging that the minister had already conducted investigations into the events of January 8, 2023, while heading the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. According to lawyer Marcus Vinícius Figueiredo, "it is public knowledge" that Dino played an active role in responding to the attacks.

Another request, made by former minister Walter Braga Netto, questioned Moraes' impartiality. The defense argued that the minister could not act in the case because the investigations by the Attorney General's Office and the Federal Police (PF) pointed to a plan by allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to attempt against his life, in addition to threats against president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB).

Bolsonaro also filed two requests for recusal. In one of them, he argued that Dino could not participate in the trial because, in 2021, when he was still governor of Maranhão, he filed a criminal complaint against the former president. The other request from the former president sought to remove Zanin, alleging that the minister had previously acted as a lawyer for Lula and the PT, which would compromise his impartiality. Zanin has already declared himself ineligible in other situations involving Bolsonaro, such as in the judgment of an electoral appeal from 2022.

Before taking the case to the virtual plenary, Barroso requested statements from Dino and Zanin, who reaffirmed their ability to judge the case. The virtual plenary opened exceptionally at 11 am this Wednesday (19) for the ministers' deliberation, who have until 23:59 pm this Thursday (20) to register their votes.

With the Supreme Court's decision, the trial of the Attorney General's complaint moves to the First Panel of the court, composed of Zanin (president), Moraes (rapporteur), Dino, Cármen Lúcia, and Luiz Fux. The first group of defendants, including Bolsonaro, will have their cases analyzed next week, on March 25th and 26th.