Green and yellow Bible, flowers and chocolates: Dino’s ironies in judgment
Minister Flávio Dino of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) used irony passages in his vote in the trial of the coup plot to emphasize the severity of the acts and deconstruct the narrative of the defendants. He alternated legal explanations with strong images that sought to translate to the public the reach of the attacks against the Democratic Rule of Law.
“The plan was not green and yellow Bible, it was green and yellow dagger”
In one of the most repercussion phrases, Dino mentioned the document that circulated among Jair Bolsonaro allies with proposals to murder authorship, such as then -president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
– The name of the plan was not green and yellow Bible. It was green and yellow dagger – said
“The camps were not in churches, they were in barracks”
In dealing with the attempt to involve military personnel in the offensive, Dino also resorted to images. He said that the acts in front of the Armed Forces units had a clear political character, very different from what would happen if they were religious manifestations.
– The camps were not at the doors of church. It was in the gates of barracks, where there are rifles, machine guns and tanks – he said.
For the minister, this choice symbolized the pressure exerted on the military institution, targeting attempts to drag it to a coup adventure.
“Don’t break police line with flowers and chocolates”
Dino also refuted the version that acts of violence could be minimized. Remembering confrontations with security forces, he mocked:
– There is no way to face the police with flowers and chocolates. There was physical confrontation to reach the Praça dos Três Powers – said, in reference to the depredation of public buildings and hostility against police.
“It is exotic to say that constitutional court is tyrannical”
Another passage of irony was directed to criticism made to the Supreme. Dino classified as absurd the idea that constitutional cuts, created precisely to protect democracies, could be authoritarian.
– It is at least exotic to say that constitutional court is tyrannical. It is exactly the opposite: courts are bulkhead against tyrannies – he said.
“The ‘music of Heleno’ and the minor participation”
In assessing the conduct of General Augusto Heleno, former minister of the Institutional Security Office, Flávio Dino resorted to an irony. He recalled the singing in which the military rhymed “centrão” with “thief”, an episode that marked the style of the general behind the scenes of the Bolsonaro government.
He didn’t sang, thank God. But unless mistakenly, he was the one who sang a rhyming little song with a thief, or thief with center, something like this, ”said Dino, causing laughter in the plenary.
The minister explained that, in his assessment, there were no relevant acts of Heleno in the second half of 2022, and that the absence of participation in decisive meetings puts him in a position of less protagonism. Therefore, he considered that his performance must be classified as “minor participation”, hypothesis provided for in article 29 of the Penal Code.
Judgment in progress
Dino’s lines added to the vote of rapporteur Alexandre de Moraes, who also stressed the separation between the Armed Forces and the accused. Both pointed out that the absence of adhesion of military commands was crucial for the failure of the plot.
The trial continues this week, with the manifestation of other ministers.
