A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Wednesday ordered the opening of an investigation against President Jair Bolsonaro for disseminating false information.
The move comes after his constant attacks on the electoral system.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes made this decision after a request from the Higher Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which announced on Monday to open an investigation against the head of state for "abuse of political and economic power (...) in his attacks against the electronic voting system and the legitimacy of the 2022 elections ”.
A two hour video without proof
The magistrate specified that the investigation of the Supreme Court would try to establish whether the leader of the extreme right was guilty of "insult, defamation and slanderous denunciation", in particular.
“The President of the Republic has suggested the practice of unlawful acts on the part of members of the Supreme Court, by using means of mass dissemination
(of false information)
on social networks, to harm the judiciary and put in jeopardize its independence, ”Judge Moraes wrote in his judgment.
The investigation must relate in particular to a live transmission of more than two hours on Facebook during which President Bolsonaro reported, last Thursday, of fraud in the electronic ballot box system in force since 1996, without providing any evidence. .
An angle of attack to contest a possible defeat in the elections
The Brazilian president's attacks on the electoral system come when he is in a bad patch due to a clear erosion of his popularity due in particular to his management of the coronavirus crisis, considered calamitous by specialists.
Jair Bolsonaro has been given for several weeks largely the loser in the polls against his sworn enemy, the left-wing ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), if he decides to stand for re-election.
According to analysts consulted by AFP, by repeatedly questioning the electoral system, Jair Bolsonaro is preparing the ground for a challenge to the result of the ballot in case of defeat.