Bolsonaro's Party Files Suit Against Lollapalooza Organizers For Pro-Lula Demonstrations

Bolsonaro's Party Files Suit Against Lollapalooza Organizers For Pro-Lula Demonstrations
Photo: Edmond Dantès/Pexels

28-03-2022

Sofia Dolabela

America and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Last weekend, the Lollapalooza music festival was held in São Paulo, and some of the artists who performed expressed their opposition to President Jair Bolsonaro and/or positioned themselves in favor of Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva for the presidential elections to be held at the end of the year. In light of this, the Liberal Party (PL), Bolsonaro's party, filed a lawsuit with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) against the organizers of the festival, alleging that it would have carried out anticipated electoral propaganda in favor of the former president Lula. 

According to the PL, the action was taken to warn the organizers about anticipated political campaigning, which is not allowed by the electoral law. Besides requesting that the organization of the festival does not allow the manifestation of anticipated irregular propaganda in favor or otherwise of any candidate, it also asks for the establishment of a fine and the interruption of the event in case of non-compliance. On March 27, the TSE granted the request and prohibited electoral propaganda acts at Lollapalooza, establishing a fine of 50 thousand reais for those who did it. However, for several jurists interviewed by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, the decision does not comply with the Brazilian legislation, since there were no explicit requests for votes, mentions of candidates, or exaltation of the personal qualities of possible candidates, that is, the situation does not constitute anticipated electoral propaganda. 

The occurrence provoked demonstrations of opposition to President Bolsonaro among several artists, who raised the importance of fighting censorship and freedom of expression.

Sources and further reading:

Damasceno, V. (2022, March 27). TSE's decision to ban new acts at Lollapalooza is incorrect, say legal experts. Folha de S. Paulo. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2022/03/decisao-do-tse-de-proibir-novos-atos-no-lollapalooza-e-incorreta-dizem-juristas.shtml

G1. (2022, March 26). Bolsonaro's party files suit against Lollapalooza organizers for pro-Lula demonstrations. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2022/03/26/partido-de-bolsonaro-aciona-tse-contra-organizacao-do-lollapalooza-por-manifestacoes-pro-lula.ghtml