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27-04-2025
BRASILIA: A woman in Brazil has been jailed for 14 years after writing an offensive message in lipstick on a statue during riots in Brasilia.
Debora Rodrigues took part in the unrest in January 2023, along with hundreds of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The riot saw thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters attack government buildings following his election loss the previous year.
Justice Cristiano Zanin, one of a panel of five judges overlooking Rodrigues’s case, stressed she was not being tried solely for the graffiti and was convicted of multiple offences.
Rodrigues was arrested as part of a broader investigation into an alleged coup plot against the newly-elected President Lula da Silva.
She was convicted of multiple offences, including the destruction of property, membership of a criminal organization, and involvement in an attempted coup.
The 39-year-old hairdresser apologized for writing “You lost, idiot” on the statue of Justice outside the Supreme Federal Court, an incident dubbed the “lipstick coup”.
Rodrigues maintains that she did not take part in any violence.
Earlier in court, she maintained that she was “a good citizen”.
“I went to the protests and I didn’t imagine that they would be so turbulent,” said Rodrigues. “I have never done anything illegal in my life”.
Rodrigues’ lawyers said that she did not enter any buildings during the riots and acted impulsively in the “heat of the moment.” She expressed regret over her actions.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, presiding over the case, argued that Rodrigues “consciously and voluntarily” aligned herself with demonstrators seeking to overthrow the government.
He added that Rodrigues had admitted to taking part in anti-democratic acts in her testimony to police, and that gaps in messages on her phone suggested she had attempted to conceal evidence.
The case has become a rallying point for Bolsonaro supporters, who view Rodrigues as a victim of political persecution, and argue that the Supreme Court has become too powerful and partisan.
In February, a video about Rodrigues went viral on social media. The following month, Bolsonaro shared a post about her on X, calling for an amnesty for those involved in the civil unrest in 2023.
Bolsonaro is also facing criminal proceedings over the alleged coup attempt. If found guilty he faces over 40 years in prison.
“What starts wrong, ends wrong?” This popular Brazilian saying can describe very well the current state of the ongoing battle between freedom of speech and judicial activism in Brazil.
Twitter, left Brazil on August 17th, and on September 3rd the social media platform was banned in the country from the Supreme Court bench, a disheartening indication of the future of Brazilian civil liberties.
Brazil’s current crackdown on free speech began in 2019 when an article in Crusoe (think Reason Magazine for Brazil) was censored. The article described ties between a Supreme Court Justice, Dias Toffoli, and the internationally known “car-wash operation” that led to the imprisonment of current President Lula da Silva in 2018.
To avoid the appearance of a conflict, Justice Dias Toffoli delegated the investigation to Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who still leads it today. Intentionally or not, Toffoli chose the most authoritarian Justice of the Supreme Court since Brazil emerged from military dictatorship in 1985. This “operation,” now known as “fake news operation,” has expanded far beyond its original purpose. (Int’l News Desk)
