Popular comedians flee Brazil after denouncing government official
Two comedians have fled Brazil after being threatened with arrest by one of Brazil’s highest officials, whom they had recently criticized.
Paulo Souza and Bismark Fugazza are well-known for their comedic skits on the popular YouTube channel Hypocrites Channel, which boasts 1.57 million subscribers. Last week, the duo denounced Supreme Court Justice and Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Alexandre de Moraes to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, according to Revista Oeste.
Moraes has gained notoriety in recent months for cracking down on his political opposition. The judge, an ally of declared President-Elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has decreed that those who challenge the integrity of October’s contested presidential election will be treated as criminals. Moraes made good on his word by jailing and fining some who questioned the election results, as well as banning Right-wing officials from social media.
Recently, Moraes drew on the Biden administration’s response to January 6th to justify fining and arresting more allies of outgoing Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Souza, Fugazza and a journalist named and Oswaldo Eustáquio last week slammed Moraes for jeopardizing “the rights of freedom of expression” in the country, with “several temporary arrests illegally decreed.” They also condemned the election official for handing out “disproportionate fines” to Brazilians without due process of law.
Soon after, the comedy duo learned through a journalist that Moraes had ordered their arrest, though no official reason was disclosed. Souza and Fugazza decided to flee the country.
“Ten days ago, we received information from a very hot source that our names would be on the list of an arrest warrant,” Souza said, adding that Eustáquio, who was already arrested twice by Moraes, would also be in the magistrate's sights. “That is why we made the decision to leave Brazil.”
Fugazza added that Moraes is acting unconstitutionally, according to Revista Oeste.
“He gives the warrant to the police, and they make the arrest,” he said. “Only afterward do the police enter into the system that the person was arrested. Therefore, we do not know if this arrest warrant really exists. But, as it was a source we trust very much who gave us this information, we decided to leave the country. We understand that our silent voices would be of no use.”
In November, the comedy team retweeted a post listing what appeared to be several social media accounts that had been shut down by Moraes' TSE.
“By ‘coincidence’, there is no Lula supporter on the list,” said the tweet.
The country has been boiling with civil unrest since October’s presidential election, which many considered rigged in favor of Lula. The Left-wing president-elect, who served 580 days in federal prison for corruption during his last term as president, beat Right-wing Jair Bolsonaro with 50.7% of the vote, the narrowest margin in the country’s history.
