Electoral Prosecutor's Office defends termination of process regarding Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro's secrecy

The Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office spoke out on Friday (23) for the termination of the process that deals with breaches of confidentiality by presidential candidates Lula (PT) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL).

The body defended that this be done without analyzing the merits of the case – that is, without deciding on the campaign's claim, which, in practice, wanted the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to intervene in the dissemination of information.

According to the deputy electoral attorney general, Alexandre Espinosa, there is no reason for the Electoral Court to act in the case, "especially because there is no strictly electoral matter to be resolved".

It will be up to the case's rapporteur, André Mendonça, to decide on the progress of the process. The minister already stated on Thursday (22) that Lula and Flávio can disclose the data they want, as he also understood that it is not the role of the TSE to define what each candidate wants or does not want to make public.

Lula and Flávio signed an agreement to mutually break their banking, tax and telephone secrecy. The settlement also involves relatives and people close to both.

Lula challenged Flávio to open his secrets on Sunday (18), during the Band debate, and later compared the idea to a game of tricks. The Bolsonaro candidate did not accept at first. Then, he set conditions for accepting the agreement. The PT campaign had been publicly putting pressure on its opponent.

The two face each other in the second round of elections next Sunday (25).

In his decision, Mendonça stated that secrecy exists to protect the data subject, "who can give them up whenever he wants". He mentioned that information such as statements, bank transactions, Income Tax declarations and call history can be accessed or requested from banks, on government websites and from telephone operators.

In the document, the TSE minister also said that the breach of secrecy would not be able to show assets resulting from corruption and money laundering, as these resources circulate through "orange" accounts and not the final beneficiary's.