BRAZIL’S SUPREME COURT ON TRIAL: THE SPECTACLE OF LAW IN SERVICE OF POWER

Kafka and Orwell reduced to judicial "jurisprudence" in Brazil

By Antonio Fernando Pinheiro Pedro

In recent years, Brazil’s highest court, the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), has shifted from being an impartial arbiter of justice to the main stage of a politicized legal theater. Far from Kafkaesque absurdity or Orwellian control merely serving as metaphors, these dystopias now seem embedded in the very jurisprudence of a court fraying under political pressure.

The STF’s ongoing criminal trial regarding an alleged “coup plot” reveals disturbing signs of a predetermined outcome. The court has aired lengthy televised interrogations resembling more of a spectacle than due process—featuring accusations based on personal opinions, casual banter, and conjecture about voting systems. It’s a judicial circus, complete with its own ringmasters and rhetorical acrobatics.

The Fallacy of a “Grave Threat”

To allege a serious threat requires evidence of coercion and fear. Yet, the main players involved—including the so-called whistleblower—consistently reported no intimidation or pressure. Even the presiding judge, ostensibly the target of this “plot,” admitted there was no sense of threat grave enough to recuse himself.

And still, internal conversations and hypothetical scenarios are labeled “attempted coups,” despite the absence of any institutional disruption or tangible consequences.

The Coup That Never Was

For a democratic system to penalize intent alone—disconnected from concrete action—is an ominous development. Plans like the “Green-and-Yellow Dagger,” which allegedly aimed at attacks on officials, never progressed beyond speculation. The accused themselves abandoned the idea long before anything resembling preparation, let alone execution.

Meanwhile, far more elaborate fantasies are spun daily across partisan WhatsApp chats, ideological think tanks, university classrooms, and fringe political circles—rarely inviting judicial scrutiny, let alone high court trials.

The STF as a Court of Exception

Perhaps most alarming is the STF’s transformation into a court of exception. Convictions seem driven less by evidence than by an agenda to craft an “exemplary narrative” to preserve democratic optics. Justice, here, bends toward political messaging.

We’ve seen this before in regimes that loudly proclaim themselves “democratic republics,” while weaponizing legal institutions to suppress dissent. Judges, once guardians of due process, now appear willing to suspend legal principles in service of political ends.

Legal Precedent, or Political Pretext?

The danger is not only the injustice done to individuals on trial. It’s the precedent: that expressing political discontent or engaging in internal discussion could tomorrow be criminalized.

Such trials risk mutating the judicial system into an inquisitorial mechanism—where criticizing the system is no longer protected speech, but prosecutable dissent.

Final Reflections

This is not a defense of political actors. It is a defense of legal principles. The rule of law demands impartiality, not alignment with party lines. What the STF defends today is not democracy itself, but a convenient version of it—narratively sound, legally brittle.

A system cannot claim moral high ground while silencing those who question it. Justice isn’t served when dissent is rebranded as sedition.

Institutions should not be conflated with the individuals who manipulate them. Today, termites gnaw at the foundations of Brazil’s legal order—under the pretense of fortifying it.

Note: 

The original text in Portuguese can be read at the following link: 

https://www.theeagleview.com.br/2025/06/a-farsa-juridico-politica-do-supremo.html

Antonio Fernando Pinheiro Pedro is a lawyer (University of São Paulo), journalist, and environmental consultant. He served as the first-ever Executive Secretary for Climate Change of the City of São Paulo (June 2021–July 2023). He is the founding partner of the law firm Pinheiro Pedro Advogados, director of AICA – Corporate and Environmental Intelligence Agency, and a member of the Brazilian Institute of Lawyers (IAB). He is Vice-President of the São Paulo Press Association (API), former President of the Environment Commission of the OAB/SP, President of the Legislative Chamber of CEBDS, and chaired the Environment Committee of AMCHAM. He led the drafting of the bill that became Brazil’s National Climate Change Policy Law, and has been a consultant to the Brazilian government, the World Bank, the United Nations, and numerous organizations working to enhance the country’s legal and institutional frameworks. He is a member of the Strategic Studies Center at Think Tank Iniciativa DEX, sits on the Superior Council for National Studies and Policy at FIESP, serves as President of the University of Water Association (UNIÁGUA), and is Editor-in-Chief of Portal Ambiente Legal and author of the blog The Eagle View.