MP asks Justice to bar Canella's election in Rio due to relationship with militias and the CV

The MPE (Public Electoral Ministry) presented to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) this Friday (23) an opinion in which it defends the annulment of the registration of the candidacy of the former mayor of Belford Roxo and former state deputy Márcio Canella (União Brasil) for alleged relations with the militias and the Red Command.

Canella was the second most voted in Rio de Janeiro in the election for state deputy, with 197,178 votes. He was nominated as a pre-candidate for the Senate, with the support of presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). He is also an ally of elected governor Douglas Ruas and former governor Claudio Castro (PL).

His name lost strength in the majority campaign after he was arrested, in July, with a restricted-use rifle and more than R$919,000 in cash. The gun was in the elected parliamentarian's car.

The elected state deputy was the target of search and seizure in Operation Nail and Flesh, of the Federal Police, which investigates a gang specializing in money laundering for organized crime, using fraud at gas stations. In addition to him, the Civil Police Secretary appointed by former governor Cláudio Castro (PL) Marcus Amim was also the target of the operation.

Contacted by Folha by phone and WhatsApp, Canella has not yet commented on the MPE's opinion.

In his statement, the deputy electoral attorney general (deputy PGE), Alexandre Espinosa, considers there to be sufficient evidence that Canella is involved with criminal organizations. He maintains that the TSE has already consolidated its understanding to prevent politicians linked to paramilitary or similar organizations from participating in the electoral dispute, regardless of whether there is a final conviction.

For Espinosa, the veto on the candidacy is based on the rule provided for in article 17 of the Federal Constitution, which prohibits the influence of these groups on political parties. With this, he asks the TSE to reform the decision of the TRE-RJ (Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro), which had released the candidacy.

The deputy attorney general argues that the regional court made the decision without having access to the evidence from Inquiry No. 5,020/DF, in progress at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the secrecy of which was only removed by the Supreme Court this month.

Espinosa points out as other signs of Canella's relationship with organized crime the fact that, when he was a state deputy, he kept the wife of a leader of the militia group known as "Bonde do Jura", in a position in his office.

He also points out that, upon assuming the mayorship of Belford Roxo, in 2025, he appointed militia leaders from the region to two municipal departments. One of them had already been convicted by the courts for the crime of forming a militia and the other was facing charges of extortion and illegal possession of a weapon, for which he was later convicted.

He also cites evidence that, during his tenure at Belford Roxo city hall, Operation "Barricade Zero" to remove obstacles to drug trafficking would have involved informal agreements with Comando Vermelho. "The agreements provided for the temporary release of access to communities to carry out works and video recordings, with the subsequent restitution of territorial control to the faction", he maintains.

"It is possible to affirm, therefore, the existence of safe and convergent elements that demonstrate not only the infiltration of militia leaders in the public administration through the candidate, but also the ostensible electoral support they provided to his campaign and his outstanding role as an articulator of an armed criminal organization", concludes Espinosa in the opinion.