Brazil: Alexandre de Moraes, a right-wing man on the heels of Jair Bolsonaro
Last weekend, Alexandre de Moraes incurred the wrath of Elon Musk: the owner of X (ex-Twitter) does not appreciate the magistrate's blocking of certain user accounts, including many supporters by Jair Bolsonaro. Alexandre de Moraes has long been considered by the left as a man of the “hard right”. But since 2019, he has ruthlessly pursued the former far-right president.
The president of the Superior Electoral Court, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, speaks during the inauguration of the Center for Combating Disinformation and Defense of Democracy in Brasilia, Brazil, March 12, 2024. © AP - Eraldo Fathers
By: Christophe Paget Follow
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This fifty-year-old with a shaved head, father of three children, is considered a pure product of the Sao Paulo elite – he went to the University of Sao Paulo, one of the best in Latin America, from which he graduated with his law degree in hand in 1990. First in the entrance examination for the City's public prosecutor's office – the equivalent of the public prosecutor's office, he became a prosecutor and gradually rose through the ranks.
In 2015, he was appointed deputy for public security for the state of Sao Paulo – under his command, 130,000 police officers. He harshly repressed left-wing demonstrations and got closer to Vice-President
Michel Temer
who, when he came to power a year later, appointed him Minister of Justice.
Left-wing movements are still in the crosshairs of Alexandre de Moraes, whom the opposition calls “
fascist
” and “
liar
”. He was at the center of a controversy when the daily
Estadao
claimed that he had intervened on several occasions to defend a cooperative linked to the main group of drug traffickers in the state of Sao Paulo – something he denies.
A judge with extensive powers
In 2017, he joined the Federal Supreme Court (STF), a Court with very broad powers - to the great dismay of the opposition who considered him too partisan. But in January 2019,
Jair Bolsonaro
came to power. And when the STF entrusted Alexandre de Moraes with an investigation into the dissemination of false information by the extreme right, the judge went after the president and became the rapporteur of the main investigations targeting him. He blocked numerous X accounts (ex-Twitter) accused of spreading disinformation, and ordered the arrest of Bolsonarist activists and influencers threatening democratic institutions on social networks. Jair Bolsonaro, furious, promised in September 2021 to “
no longer respect the slightest decision of Alexandre de Moraes
”, and even invited his supporters to surround the Federal Supreme Court.
But the judge's powers increase further: in 2022, he takes the head of the Superior Electoral Tribunal – the TSE which, in June 2023, will declare Jair Bolsonaro, now ex-president, ineligible for having disseminated false information about the Brazilian electoral system.
A few months earlier, in January 2023, when left-wing President Lula came to power, the main Brazilian places of power were attacked. Alexandre de Moraes immediately orders the dismantling of the Bolsonarist camps as well as the arrest of more than 2,000 suspected putschists – and of a former minister suspected of collusion with the rioters. He also obtained the suspension of the governor of the capital, Ibaneis Rocha, accused of “
serious failures
” in the action of the local military police.
Read alsoBrazil opens the trials of the Bolsonarist riots of January 8
Shamed by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro
The judge has become the bane of the Bolsonarists, who welcomed last
weekend the attacks carried out against him by Elon Musk: the owner
of
accounts
blocked
on
“
betrayed the constitution and the people of Brazil
”. The judge responded by opening an investigation into the billionaire, citing an alleged “
criminal exploitation of X
” by Elon Musk and threatening the network with a fine of 18,300 euros per blocked reactivated profile. Alexandre de Moraes is followed by more than a million people
on
X.
Also read: Elon Musk accused of “criminal exploitation of X” in a Brazilian justice investigation
Last year, several Brazilian daily newspapers wondered if the magistrate was not going too far:
Estadao
evokes the risk of a
“monocratic superpower
”, Folha de Sao Paulo believes that he is “
testing the limits of
institutional power”. In an interview given last April to
M Le magazine du
Monde
, Alexandre de Moraes insists: the Supreme Court and the TSE “
are two collegial bodies
”, and all his actions “
ended up being countersigned
” by his peers: “
My decisions , harsh but necessary, were all taken in compliance with the Constitution and the law
.”
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