The measure was ordered by Judge Demetrius Gomez Cavalcante, of the Federal District Court in Brasilia, in response to a request by Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, one of Bolsonaro’s sons, causing a revolution in many sectors of Brazilian society who accuse this decision of censorship.
The news portal announced that it would appeal the decision.
The judge justified his precautionary decision that “the imminence of the electoral process in which the petitioner’s father will run for public office of notorious quality, and the continued disclosure of these matters will bring not only the family but also the candidate” and damage to his image. And his honor.”
The head of state aspires to be re-elected in the October 2 elections, but opinion polls put him in second place, with about 33% of the vote, behind former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the preferred candidate with about 47%.
After analyzing 107 real estate deals made by Bolsonaro, his children, ex-wives and siblings since 1990, the portal determined that 51 properties were acquired in whole or in part for cash.
According to the report, 13.5 million riyals (about 2.6 million euros) in cash were used to acquire these properties, which will bring the updated values to 26.6 million riyals (about 5.1 million euros)).
The portal argues that although cash transactions are not a crime, they may be intended to make it difficult to trace amounts from illegal sources.
In accordance with the injunction ordered by the judge, part of the data in the report was overturned by the court because it was obtained illegally.
This is because some of the information used by UOL comes from investigations conducted by the Public Ministry in Rio de Janeiro against the president’s two sons, Carlos and Flavio Bolsonaro, for alleged irregularities in the purchase of real estate, part of which was overturned by the judicial system for being part of banking secrecy.
In his decision, the judge said: “It is known that such facts were obtained illegally, because they were disclosed from a police investigation that was overturned by the High Court of Justice, so it can be concluded that the disclosure of such data is arbitrary.” .
For the portal, the judge’s decision elicits and seeks to avoid political controversy a week before the presidential election.
“The decision violates precedents established by the Brazilian legal system and aims to remove relevant information from public debate on the eve of elections about the assets of public officials,” said Monica Felgueiras, an attorney for UOL.
Several media associations expressed concern about the measure, considering it censorship.
The candidate for the Brazilian elections, Ciro Gomez, who ranked third in the polls, considered this decision “a clear attack on the freedom of the press, an act of censorship reminiscent of the time of the dictatorship.”
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