The civil police launched this Monday (28) an operation to collect evidence of the alleged Electoral crimes committed by public officials in Imbitubain the south of Santa Catarina, during this year’s electoral process.

The use of a public machine to support candidates is the target of the Imbituba City Hall operation – Photo: Civil Police/Disclosure/ND

According to the police, there are currently seven search and seizure warrants in progress, a precautionary measure that suspends government functions, in addition to other activities that are carried out in secret. Searches are being carried out at the suspects’ homes and at the municipal health secretariat.

understand the matter

The civil police said that during the 2022 electoral process, it was found that the use of the municipal state machine is beneficial to candidates for the Chamber of Deputies, the Federal Senate, the Legislative Assembly, the state government and for the President of the Republic.

However, according to the police, there is a suspicion that the vehicles of the municipality of Imbituba were used to collect, transport and distribute campaign materials.

Evidence also indicates that public transport, rented by the mayor’s office, was used to transport civil servants to Florianopolis, where a rally was held in September in support of PT candidates for the government and for the presidency of the republic.

In addition, the police observed the actions of public officials who tried to hide the truth about the facts by coercing witnesses and issuing false documents in order to jeopardize the investigation and lure the prosecution authorities into error.

The case resulted in the suspension of public office by one of the persons involved in the case, whose functions were used to remove evidence and coerce witnesses.

The facts were submitted by the Electoral Public Ministry of the 73rd Imbituba Zone, which sent them to the Imbituba Police Station for a more thorough investigation of the facts.

Delegate Nicola Patel Filho, in charge of the investigation, stressed that the operation does not want to encourage actions that question or change the election results.

“The purpose of the investigation is to investigate the individual behavior of civil servants who used the goods and services of municipal public administration in favor of candidates in the 2022 elections,” he stressed.

Mayor takes position

In a note, Imbituba Mayor Rosenvaldo da Silva Junior (PSB) said the municipality would cooperate with the entire investigation precisely to find out all the facts.

The facts, which, according to him, are being investigated by the municipality itself, since the complaints were sent to the House of Councilors a few days ago.

The mayor reiterated that the municipality had already taken the necessary steps, including the removal of some of the commissioned servers and the launch of an investigation to determine the involvement of other active servers.