Pastor Silas Malafaia must face prosecution for homophobic statements made in July 2011 on his TV program "Vitória de Cristo".
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The decision is made by 3rd Panel of the Federal Regional Court (TRF3), which once again denied yet another appeal from Malafaia, accepting a statement from the Regional Attorney's Office of the Republic of the 3rd Region (PRR3).
In a public civil action, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) demands that the pastor recant "for inciting violence against homosexuals" when criticizing the use of images of saints on posters for a campaign for condoms during the LGBT Pride Parade that year.
The Prosecutor's Office asks that the retraction be at least twice as long as the homophobic message.
Malafaia commented on the program: "The guys in the gay parade ridiculed symbols of the Catholic Church and no one says anything. It's for the Catholic Church to get in on these guys, you know? Bring the club down on them so these guys can learn (sic). It's a shame".
A Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals (ABGLT) triggered the Federal Public Ministry, which, after investigation, concluded by proposing the legal action.
"Public retraction aims at natural compensation for the damage, seeking the effective restoration of the human dignity of those whose rights have been violated, also having the educational function of discouraging the offender from reproducing similar conduct", in addition to removing the negative effect of their statements on the of third parties towards homosexuals, discouraging the violence incited by their speech", stated the regional prosecutor of the Republic Eugênia Augusta Gonzaga, when speaking in relation to the last appeal presented by the defendant.
Malafaia appealed the TRF3 decision twice. In September last year, the federal court annulled the first instance ruling that had determined the termination of the public civil action without judging the merits due to "the legal impossibility of the requests made".
The first instance decision had considered Malafaia's statements legitimate because it was a free exercise of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. "Getting in" and "putting down the club" were considered mere popular expressions of criticism and not exactly incitement to violence.
When annulling the sentence so that the process could be resumed in the first instance, the 3rd Panel of the TRF3 stated that "only claims not covered – even in theory – by the legal system are legally impossible", which is not the case as requested by the Federal Public Ministry in public civil action. "Whether it is valid or not is a matter of merit", he concluded.
