Brazil’s Electoral Court Suspends Lula Campaign Advertisement Listing Allegations Against Flávio Bolsonaro

Brazil’s electoral court suspended a campaign advertisement that portrayed Flávio Bolsonaro through a series of criminal allegations, saying the message went beyond acceptable political criticism.

Estela Aranha, a minister of the Superior Electoral Court, issued the urgent and provisional order on Sunday. The advertisement, titled “Conheça o currículo de Flávio Bolsonaro”, accused the candidate of being a “phantom employee”, being reported for money laundering and criminal organization involvement in the rachadinha scandal, and being caught by the Federal Police seeking 134 million in the Banco Master scandal.

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The content disseminated exceeds the limits of permissible political criticism.

Bolsonaro’s campaign challenged the advertisement. It said he had never faced proceedings over the phantom-employee allegation. It also argued that there was no conviction in the rachadinha case and that a complaint filed by prosecutors had been archived by the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice.

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The publications do not restrict themselves to expressing an opinion or debating political positions, but construct a narrative that imputes involvement with criminal organizations to the candidate, through a technique of indirect association and a chain of facts, without indicating any concrete data, formal investigation or legal accusation supporting the allegations.

The campaign further objected to the phrase “caught by the Federal Police” in connection with Banco Master. It said the case involved the disclosure of a conversation related to a private commercial matter, not an act of flagrante delicto or proof of a crime.

Aranha said the advertisement constructed a narrative linking the candidate to criminal organizations through indirect association and a chain of events, without concrete data, a formal investigation or a legal accusation supporting the claims. She said political advertising need not provide an exhaustive biography, but it must not remove essential information when presenting a serious criminal allegation. Her order instructed broadcasters carrying the campaign material to suspend it.

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It is not a matter of requiring every advertisement to contain an exhaustive biography of the opponent or all the details of possible legal proceedings.