"Our lawyer (of the Attorney General's Office) has presented his position, but nothing is imposed. The most important thing is that if it (gambling) has to stop being a contravention, it should be done by the Chamber of Deputies and by the Senate," said Bolsonaro in a live broadcast on his Facebook, referring to the fact that the Federal Supreme Court (STF) is deciding whether gaming approval is compatible with the Brazilian Constitution.
The Humanist Solidarity Party (PHS) filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court in January to overturn criminal misconduct of private gambling. According to the PHS's argument, "allowing private enterprise to exploit the economic activity of gambling does not offend morals and good manners and is in perfect harmony with the legislation of the vast majority of countries in the world. The prohibition imposed by the attacked norms does not find sustentation and validity in the Constitution of 1988."
The Attorney General's Office, the institution responsible for representation, supervision and legal control of the Brazilian State represented by lawyer André Mendonça, sent on Wednesday to the STF a manifestation contrary to the PHS, where he stated that "the practice of games of chance raises multiple socially harmful implications."
On Thursday, next to Jair Bolsonaro, André Medonça reinforced his position. "Gambling is the gateway to money laundering, illicit activities, concealment of assets. Another aspect is that it generates addiction, we cannot accept that gambling becomes lawful, and that is what we opposed. And this is what we opposed to (in the judgment of the Supreme Court)."
In the action, the Attorney General stressed that the Brazilian Federal Constitution gives the State the competence to legislate on consortiums and draws. The Federal Supreme Court will thus judge whether the definition as a criminal offense of the exploitation of games of chance, contained in the Criminal Disputes Act since 1941, is contrary to the precepts of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.
Source: GMB
