TRE-MG suspends investigation against Ana Elisa after Flávio Bolsonaro's complaint for alleged dissemination of fake news

The Regional Electoral Court of Minas Gerais (TRE-MG) temporarily suspended the investigation against Ana Elisa Santos Silva (PT), on suspicion of disseminating false information during the 2026 electoral campaign. In October, the Divinópolis Electoral Court had ordered the Federal Police (PF) to open an investigation to investigate publications made by the elected federal deputy.

The complaint was presented by candidate for President of the Republic Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) who questioned publications made by Ana Elisa on the social network X about an alleged attempt to remove the title of Patron Saint of Brazil from Our Lady of Aparecida.

The preliminary decision was signed by judge Lincoln Rodrigues de Faria on October 29th, and determines the interruption of the police investigation and new investigative acts related to the case until the other TRE-MG judges analyze the case and make a definitive decision.

When analyzing the request for habeas corpus presented by Ana Elisa's defense, the rapporteur understood that, in a preliminary assessment, the publications were inserted in the context of the political-electoral debate.

The judge highlighted that, to characterize the crime being investigated, it is not enough to point out that information is false. It is also necessary to demonstrate that the person was aware of the untruth when disclosing it.

In the rapporteur's assessment, the elements presented up to that point did not sufficiently demonstrate that Ana Elisa knew that the information was false.

He also pointed out that the decision that determined the opening of the investigation would not have presented an individual basis on the elements that could constitute a crime, differentiating it from a possible irregularity in electoral propaganda.

According to TRE-MG, the decision is preliminary and is valid until the collegiate judge the merits of the habeas corpus. Therefore, the investigation was not definitively archived.

The rapporteur also determined that the authority appointed as responsible for the initial decision should provide information on compliance with the suspension and on the actions that have already been carried out in the investigation.

The decision maintains the determination to preserve digital records of the questioned publications, but suspends the carrying out of new investigative acts related to the facts attributed to Ana Elisa until the habeas corpus trial.

According to the criminal report presented by Flávio Bolsonaro, Ana Elisa published, on September 24, a message on the social network stating that the politician's supporters were trying to remove the title of Patron Saint of Brazil from Our Lady of Aparecida.

In the publication, she questioned who wanted to close churches and criticized the presidential candidate's political group. According to the complaint, the post reached more than 20.8 thousand views and was shared more than 600 times.

After receiving the complaint, the Electoral Public Ministry understood that there were sufficient elements to justify opening an investigation. The body requested the opening of an investigation to gather additional evidence, especially information from platform X about the questioned publications.