Regional Electoral Court Declares Rio Mayor Ineligible Until 2026

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The TRE-RJ (Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro) unanimously decided to sentence Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella for abuse of political power and prohibited conduct in 2018. As a penalty, Crivella – who is a pre-candidate for reelection – was banned from running until 2026.

Crivella says he will appeal the decision and that he is considering a request for the annulment of the TRE-RJ vote. The Court found that he used vehicles and employees of COMLURB, a the city-owned garbage collection company in Rio, to promote a campaign event for his son Marcelo Hodge Crivella, who was seeking election as a federal deputy, and Alessandro Costa, who ran for state deputy in July 2018.

The last of the seven votes was cast yesterday by jurist Vitor Marcelo Rodrigues, who decided to fully support the rapporteur of the case. He had made a request for a review, preventing Crivella’s trial from being finalized last Monday, September 21st. At the time, the TRE-RJ had already established a majority to sentence Crivella -six of the seven judges had already voted to sentence the Mayor.

Rodrigues claimed he needed more time to analyze the case based on the amount of documents contained in the lawsuit. He was appointed to the TRE-RJ by President Jair Bolsonaro – who supports Crivella’s candidacy for reelection – earlier this month. He was Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s professor. To Crusoé magazine, he acknowledged that his relationship with the President’s eldest son assisted his appointment.

Can Crivella run for reelection after the conviction?

Crivella can still appeal the sentence and proceed with his campaign for reelection, even with his candidacy under judgment.

From the publication of the decision – which typically takes a few days – Crivella’s defense will have a three-day deadline to appeal.

Adversaries in this year’s election may petition to impeach the Mayor’s registration if the TRE-RJ’s decision is published before his candidacy is judged by the Superior Electoral Court – Crivella’s registration request has not yet been judged and may be analyzed until October 26th.

If the decision is published after his registration is confirmed, Crivella will run for election. However, if elected he may be challenged. Should the courts uphold such action, he may not be sworn in or could even be removed from office if elected.

What Crivella’s defense says

The Mayor announced in a note that he will appeal the decision and that he is considering a request to annul the TRE-RJ’s vote. He alleges conflict of interest by one of the judges who took part in the trial.

Crivella says that “one of the judges, Gustavo Alves Pinto Teixeira has voted, but in parallel, he is an attorney for Lamsa – the concessionaire the Mayor is fighting against in court to end the excessive toll charge on the Yellow Line”. The Mayor states that the “contamination of the vote” is evident.

“It is worth noting that Mayor Crivella is in no way prevented from running for office, and will run for reelection,” concludes the statement issued after the conviction.

The event was supported by 51 City Hall vehicles

The event was held at the Estácio de Sá samba school, in central Rio, and was attended by Crivella. According to the Electoral Judicial Investigation Action lodged by the PSOL party during the 2018 campaign, the public machine was used through COMLURB to amplify the impact of the election campaign event.

Judge Claudio Luis Braga dell’Orto, rapporteur of the case, pointed out that a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) in the Rio City Council collected evidence and testimonies proving the use of COMLURB’s structure to assist the political event.

According to him, documents obtained by the councilors prove that at least 51 COMLURB vehicles were used – with drivers during service hours – to drive company employees to the samba school court.

According to Claudio Luis Braga dell’Orto, “the Mayor provided a large number of COMLURB vehicles to carry servants using public funds, many of them during office hours, to attend a political-electoral event, in a clear misuse of purpose.”

Source: UOL