PGR asks PF to listen to Flávio in investigation into slander against Lula

The PGR (Attorney General's Office) asked Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), that the Federal Police listen to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) before deciding whether to denounce or request the shelving of the investigation that investigates alleged slander against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The request was signed by the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, after the PF sent the final investigation report to the STF. In the document, the corporation concluded that Flávio committed, in theory, the crime of slander by associating Lula with crimes such as international drug and weapons trafficking and money laundering.

The investigation investigates a publication made by the senator on the social network X on January 3, 2026, after the capture of the then president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, by the United States.

In the publication, Flávio wrote: "Lula will be reported. This is the end of the São Paulo Forum: international drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering, support for terrorists and dictatorships, rigged elections."

For the PF, by stating that Lula "will be reported" and, subsequently, listing a series of crimes, the senator falsely attributed the practice of criminal conduct to the president. The report also points out that there is no doubt about the authorship of the publication.

Despite the PF's conclusion, the PGR considered it necessary to listen to Flávio before deciding the next steps. According to Gonet, diligence is relevant above all due to the possibility of retraction, provided for in the Penal Code for crimes of slander and defamation.

By law, the person being investigated may be exempt from punishment if he retracts his sentence before sentencing. When the offense is conveyed by some means of communication, the retraction can be made through the same channel used in the original publication.

Now it is up to Moraes to decide whether to return the case to the PF for the senator's hearing. Once this stage is complete, the PGR must comment again on the final investigation report.

Source: CNN