The Electoral Court of São Paulo granted the right of reply to governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), candidate for re-election, in an action against his opponent Fernando Haddad (PT) for a video about the Banco Master case. The PT member published the response on his social networks in the early hours of Saturday (3), after a decision that considered the governor's association with an alleged "mafia" linked to the financial institution to be irregular.
In the decision, assistant advertising judge Claudia Fonseca Fanucchi understood that the piece went beyond the limits of political criticism by associating Tarcísio with an alleged "mafia" linked to the bank.
In the action, Tarcísio claimed to have been unduly linked to a structure responsible for the scandal involving the financial institution. The advertisement stated that "Banco Master is the product of a mafia in Brazil" and that "this mafia has a name". It then mentioned "a fourth Bolsonaro minister who received money for his campaign in 2022" and the "governor who received money from Master to get elected", to conclude: "this is a mafia".
Haddad's defense maintained that the demonstration was supported by public and widely publicized facts, including the authorization for Banco Master to operate during the Jair Bolsonaro government, the institution's relations with members of that administration and the donation of R$2 million made by Fabiano Zettel, Daniel Vorcaro's brother-in-law, to Tarcísio's campaign in 2022.
The lawyers argued that the use of the word "mafia" had a rhetorical character and was typical of a political dispute, without directly imputing a crime.
The judge recognized that Tarcísio's campaign effectively received a donation of R$2 million from Fabiano Zettel in the 2022 elections and stated that this fact could be exploited by opponents during the electoral dispute.
"The documents in the file demonstrate that Fabiano Zettel made an electoral contribution to the representative's campaign," he wrote.
According to the judge, however, the elements present in the process do not demonstrate that Banco Master had directly transferred the resources, that Tarcísio had participated in the creation or operation of the financial institution or that he was part of any group responsible for the scandal subsequently revealed.
"The existence of the donation makes it possible to relate, for the purposes of political debate, the candidate, his campaign, the donor and the news that subsequently involved people close to the latter, but does not authorize the electoral beneficiary to be presented (...) as a member of any illicit structure attributed to the donor, his family members or the aforementioned financial institution", he stated.
For the judge, the propaganda went beyond the political exploitation of the facts by associating Tarcísio with the group that the video called the "mafia".
"Associating an identifiable candidate with a group called 'mafia', which is attributed with the emergence of an institution involved in a financial scandal, the receipt of resources for electoral purposes, perpetuation in power and participation in coup actions, is not equivalent to a simple rhetorical nuisance inherent to the political campaign", he wrote.
The judge, however, highlighted that the decision does not prevent the Banco Master case from continuing to be explored by the governor's opponents.
"The recognition of the right of reply (...) does not restrict the free political exploration of facts related to Banco Master, the donation made by Fabiano Zettel, the news relating to Daniel Vorcaro or the political ties widely publicized in the press", he stated.
The decision ordered the removal of the video, prohibited the republication of the content under the same terms and granted Tarcísio the right to reply.
This Friday (2), the same judge denied Haddad's campaign's request to suspend the effects of the decision while the appeal is analyzed by TRE-SP. She understood that the arguments presented by the defense had already been examined in the sentence.
On the other hand, it welcomed a challenge from Haddad's allies against the first version of the right of reply drawn up by Tarcísio's campaign. According to the judge, the material attributed conclusions to the decision that were not included in the sentence and addressed topics that were not the subject of the trial. Therefore, he ordered the governor to present a new version of the response.
