Humorist Leo Lins is sentenced to 8 years in prison for hate speech at a show

Humorist Léo Lins was convicted by the Federal Court to 8 years and 3 months in prison, initially closed, for providing prejudiced speeches against various minority groups. The sentence was issued by the 3rd Federal Criminal Court of São Paulo and is appealed.

The prosecution, presented by the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF), refers to the 2022 disturbing show, which reached about 3 million views on YouTube.

During the presentation, Lins makes jokes involving sensitive themes such as sexual abuse, racism, pedophilia, zoophilia, gordophobia, among others. The material also includes joking references to crimes and tragedies, such as the Kiss nightclub fire, and citations to public persons.

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In addition to the penalty of imprisonment, Lins was sentenced to the payment of a fine corresponding to 1,170 minimum wages, calculated based on the amount in force at the time of the show. He must also pay R $ 303,600 in compensation for collective moral damages.

Federal Judge Barbara de Lima Iseppi considered the context of fun and relaxation in which the statements were made, in addition to the wide dissemination of the content.

The magistrate stressed that freedom of expression cannot be used as a shield to propagate hate discourses and that the exercise of humorous activity is not a “free pass” for violation of fundamental rights.

“The exercise of freedom of expression is neither absolute nor unlimited, and should take place in a field of tolerance and exposing themselves to the restrictions that emerge from the law itself,” wrote the judge.

“In the case of confrontation between the fundamental precept of freedom of expression and the principles of the dignity of the human person and legal equality, the latter must prevail.”