The Rio de Janeiro Electoral Court rejected, this Monday (9), the registration of the candidacy of former governor Anthony Garotinho (Republicans) for the position of councilor in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in this year’s elections.
The action was filed by the 125th Electoral Prosecutor’s Office, due to a conviction for administrative misconduct in 2018, which establishes ineligibility for eight years, until 2026.
In the decision, Judge Maria Paula Gouvêa Galhardo clarifies that she denied the request because the former governor was convicted of crimes against property and money laundering, failing to observe the provisions of Article 27, Paragraph 7 of the Resolution of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
According to electoral prosecutor Rosemery Duarte Viana, the action that resulted in Garotinho’s conviction was due to his participation in a criminal scheme that diverted R$234.4 million from the State Health Department in 2005 and 2006. At the time, he was State Secretary of Government, under the administration of his wife, Rosinha Matheus, who was governor of the state.
STF Decision
On August 20th, Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin suspended the effects of a decision from the Electoral Court in Rio de Janeiro that prevented former governor Anthony Garotinho from running in this year’s municipal elections.
The decision was granted on habeas corpus which requests the nullification of the evidence on which the conviction was based and is valid until the final judgment of the action. In the decision, Zanin noted that, in principle, the investigation that resulted in the criminal action in which Garotinho was convicted and supported all convictions linked to Operation Chequinho had the same illicit origin already recognized by the Second Panel to nullify the conviction of another defendant.
“Therefore, the suspension of the effects of the conviction only in relation to ineligibility is necessary because, if it is concluded that the convictions were the result of illicit evidence, Garotinho would be unduly prevented from contesting the elections”.
The request by the Electoral Prosecutor’s Office was made shortly after Minister Cristiano Zanin suspended the decision by the Rio Electoral Court that prevented Garotinho from running in this year’s election. The judge’s decision was in response to a habeas corpus the former governor’s defense in relation to the conviction within the scope of Operation Chequinho, which is not related to the 2018 conviction.
There are still appeals to the collegiate body of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio (TRE-RJ) and to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), in Brasília.
