Zambelli rebounds Bolsonaro: “Lost for another reason and not for this weapon”

Federal Deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) said on Thursday, 27, that former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) lost the presidential election of 2022 for “another reason” and not because she chased an armed man on the eve of the second round. In an interview with a podcast on Monday, 24, Bolsonaro credited the case as responsible for the defeat.

“I think there may be some kind of vote change and it may have influenced. But I don’t think it had such an influence to take his election. For me, Bolsonaro lost for another reason and not for his gun,” Zambelli said in an interview with CNN.

In participation to Podcast Intelligence Ltda. On Monday, 24, Bolsonaro said that Zambelli “took his mandate” by chasing Luan Araújo, a black journalist, with a gun in his hand in the neighborhood of Jardins, in Sao Paulo.

“Carla Zambelli took our mandate. That image of Zambelli chasing the guy… That made people think, ‘Look, Bolsonaro defends the weaponry.’ Even those who didn’t vote for Lula annulled the vote. We lost,” Bolsonaro said.

In the interview with CNN, Zambelli said he was “saddened” with Bolsonaro’s statement and blaming the defeat in the case is a “very big weight.”

“This statement from Bolsonaro has made me very saddened, it is a great weight for a person to carry, even more like me, who am a patriot, who have a responsibility to people and the country,” said the deputy.

Read more:

• Bolsonaro criticizes a decision on Zambelli, but says he ‘interfered with the elections’

• Bolsonaro blames Carla Zambelli for defeat to Lula: ‘He took our mandate’

Zambelli also stated that remorse by the case and accusations of influenced the 2022 election are reasons why she suffers from deep depression. The parliamentarian also said she regrets having “lost her head” in the episode.

“I regret doing this because I could simply have returned to the restaurant, have housed me inside and waiting for these guys to leave,” he said.

On the morning of Tuesday, 25, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) formed a majority to condemn Zambelli for illegal possession of a weapon and illegal embarrassment using a firearm.

In addition to a penalty stipulated in five years and three months in prison, the conviction may result in the loss of the mandate of the federal deputy. Although the majority is formed, the trial has not yet closed and the conviction will not be immediate. In addition, even after the trial is closed, appeals fit the judgment rendered.

Most ministers followed the rapporteur’s understanding, Gilmar Mendes. Following his understanding the ministers Cármen Lúcia, Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin and Dias Toffoli. The votes of Luís Roberto Barroso, Edson Fachin, Luiz Fux, André Mendonça and Nunes Marques, who asked for view of the file, remain.

Zambelli claims that he had a federal weapon on the day of the case and believes the conviction will be reversed. On Wednesday, 27, Bolsonaro, who does not keep in touch with Zambelli because of the episode in which he believes he had motivated the defeat, classified the STF’s decision as “injustice.”

“Injustice. An injustice with Carla Zambelli. As far as I know, she has a gun possession … An exaggeration. Not only the revocation of her mandate, as well as the number of years in prison. She runs after an unarmed person. She made a mistake?” Said the former president, during an interview after an STF unanimous decision that made him a defendant for attempted coup coup d’état.