MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's STF issues arrest warrant against Congresswoman Zambelli

Zambelli announced on social media that she has left Brazil to flee “this dictatorship imposed on us”

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) Court Justice Alexandre De Moraes ordered the arrest of Congresswoman Carla Zambelli, who has reportedly left the country. The magistrate also ordered the blocking of her passports, salary, assets, and social media accounts due to her conviction for hacking the electronic system of the National Council of Justice (CNJ).

The assets thus seized -including bank accounts, furniture, and real estate registered in Zambelli's name- will be applied to the payments of the fines imposed on the Bolsonarist lawmaker. In addition, the social media companies were given two hours from the moment of notification to block the MP's profiles on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Telegram, and GETTR. If, despite the blockade, Zambelli continues to make any postings, she will be subject to a fine of R$50,000/day (US$ 8,555/day), even if the posts attributed to her are published on other people's social networks.

De Moraes also ordered the Federal Police to take the necessary steps to have Carla Zambelli's name included on the Interpol list, as well as to inform the congresswoman's current whereabouts so that her extradition can be requested from the authorities of the country where she is staying.

The judge's decision responds to a request from the Attorney General's Office (PGR) made on Tuesday. In De Moraes' view, her arrest warrant is fully justified, since Zambelli left Brazil weeks after the First Panel of the STF sentenced her to ten years in prison.

“Carla Zambelli announced that, after being convicted by this Supreme Court, she fled the district of guilt, fleeing the national territory, and that she will 'return to being the Carla she was before the chains that this dictatorship imposed on us',” De Moraes wrote in his ruling.

He also pointed out that, in an interview she gave to the YouTube channel AuriVerde Brasil, the congresswoman herself announced that she had transferred her social networks to her mother's name - as a way of trying to circumvent any possible blocking of the channels that, according to De Moraes, she intended to use to “once again spread fraudulent news about the electoral process in Brazil.”

Zambelli was convicted by the First Panel of the STF for hacking into the electronic system of the National Council of Justice (CNJ), with the help of hacker Walter Delgatti, who was sentenced to 8 years and 3 months in prison in the same case.

In the same investigation, the First Panel also sentenced Zambelli to lose her parliamentary mandate after all possible appeals had been exhausted. The motions for clarification that she and Delgatti filed are expected to be heard between June 6 and 13. If the sentence is upheld, in addition to being imprisoned, both defendants will have to pay R$ 2 million (US$ 354,200) in collective moral damages.

Zambelli is also facing another criminal case before the STF for having drawn a firearm in broad daylight and, together with security guards and aides, having chased journalist Luan Araújo on the eve of the 2022 presidential elections runoff. The harassment began after Zambelli and Luan exchanged taunts during a political event in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo. So far, the STF has voted 6-0 to sentence her to five years and three months in prison on a semi-open regime. However, a request for a review by Justice Nunes Marques postponed the conclusion of the trial.

After Zambelli announced that she had left Brazil, her lawyer Daniel Bialski dropped her defense citing “intimate reasons.”

Later Wednesday, De Moraes opened an inquiry against Zambelli for the crimes of coercion of proceedings and obstruction of an investigation, following her statements in an interview saying that she intended to remain in the United States and request political asylum from President Donald Trump's government. De Moraes claimed it was the “same modus operandi” used by fellow Federal Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is also in the US and suspected of inciting the US government to take measures against the magistrate and other Brazilian authorities.

In addition, De Moraes asked Brazil's Central Bank (BCB) for a list of people who sent money to Zambelli, who also said in a separate radio interview that she might go to Italy because she has Italian citizenship. (Source: Agencia Brasil)