The request for compensation was for 4,000 dollars over statements made by Lula about furniture in the Alvorada Palace, the official residence of presidents in Brasilia.

At the onset of 2023, Lula complained that 83 pieces of furniture had disappeared from the building.

In March, the Government reported that 261 items had been located, and had been in “several rooms” of the palace.

After the items had been found, Bolsonaro’s defense attorneys filed a lawsuit against Lula, claiming that he had tried to attribute untrue facts to the far-right politician in order to tarnish his reputation. When analyzing the case, Judge Glaucia Barbosa, of the TJDFT, pointed out that Lula’s statements about furniture are “intrinsically linked to the exercise of his post” as president of the Republic.

Barbosa explained that Bolsonaro could not have entered into justice against Lula personally, but against the Union.

“Considering that the alleged practice of the act refers to public property and that circumstance leads to the manifestations of the defendant (Lula) to the exercise of the office, I recognize, ex officio, its passive illegitimacy,” the magistrate noted.

The judge added that an eventual claim for indemnification and retraction must be exercised to the detriment of the State.

“The defendant would only be legitimized to respond for eventual damages caused by his conduct, either commissive or omissive, in case of regressive action moved by the corresponding agency of the administration to which he is linked,” Barbosa stated.

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