MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

De Moraes shows up beside Lula while masses rally in Sao Paulo demanding his impeachment

Scores of Bolsonarist fans also praised X owner Elon Musk for defending freedom of speech from De Moraes

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Saturday celebrated Brazil's Independence Day during a ritualistic military parade alongside controversial Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes and other high-ranking government officials while supporters of former head of state Jair Bolsonaro staged a mass rally on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo in defense of free speech and demanding the magistrate's impeachment for banning X nationwide.

Meanwhile, First Lady Janja da Silva also skipped the official event after being invited to Qatar to celebrate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack in Doha.

Speeches at this year's military parade in Brasilia revolved around Brazil's rotating G20 presidency and November's Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the rebuilding of the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul hit by unprecedented rains, among other topics.

Also participating in the festivities were Brazilian athletes who participated at the Paris Olympics last month as well as the vaccination mascot, Zé Gotinha, while in Sao Paulo thousands donning Brazilian national team jerseys and showing pictures of X owner Elon Musk, whom they hailed as the new protector of the country's liberties.

The disenfranchised Bolsonaro also seized the opportunity to boost the candidacies of his followers for the upcoming municipal elections nationwide amid banners claiming that De “Moraes is Immoral” or featuring messages in the same sense.

De Moraes is also the rapporteur in the probe on the Jan. 8, 2023, riots in Brasilia, for which many people have been handed down long prison sentences given their alleged involvement in what was deemed a failed coup d'état.

The protesters also pushed for an amnesty for the condemned, a bill for which is already in Congress. Defending this measure were Bolsonaro, his lawmaker sons, and São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, among other speakers at the event. Another bill seeks to amend the Constitution so as to limit the powers of the STF.

In this scenario, Bolsonaro insisted that the storming of the Planalto Palace, the National Congress, and STF headquarters “was never a coup d'état,” despite which “we are still seeing people tried and convicted as members of an armed group that sought to change our democratic rule of law.“

De Freitas argued that an amnesty would be a “political remedy” for those convicted of vandalism in Brasilia. “Today we are here, once again in the arena, once again for a devotion, for a cause. We are here to make a difference: and our cause today is freedom, it is amnesty for those sentenced disproportionately,” he underlined.