{"id":76442,"date":"2026-09-25T02:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T02:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/?p=76442"},"modified":"2026-09-25T02:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T02:18:16","slug":"urgent-appellate-court-upholds-ze-marias-conviction-for-criticizing-the-state-of-israel-and-the-genocide-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/urgent-appellate-court-upholds-ze-marias-conviction-for-criticizing-the-state-of-israel-and-the-genocide-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Urgent: Appellate Court Upholds Z\u00e9 Maria\u2019s Conviction for Criticizing the State of Israel and the Genocide in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision will not silence us or cause the PSTU to back down from its unconditional defense of the Palestinian people\u2019s struggle and freedom of expression<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the appeal hearing for the two-year sentence of house arrest imposed on the national president of the PSTU, Jos\u00e9 Maria de Almeida, for defending the struggle of the Palestinian people\u2014held on the morning of Thursday, the 24th, by the 11th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3)\u2014the court upheld, for now, this illegal, illegitimate, and arbitrary decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reporting judge in the case voted to uphold the conviction; the second judge requested a recess (to suspend the hearing in order to further study the case before opining); yet, despite this, the third judge made a point of casting his vote in favor of the lower court\u2019s decision. As a result, the trial will resume in 90 days time, but the vote in favor of his conviction has already been cast, despite its complete lack of legal basis, and that its decree is equivalent to the criminalization of support for the Palestinian people\u2019s struggle and resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Start of the rally that accompanied the hearing on the appeal against Z\u00e9 Maria\u2019s conviction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rally and campaign against the conviction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While outside the TRF-3, a delegated demonstration of 150 people from various organizations supporting the Palestinian cause, political parties, labor unions, and social movements protested against Z\u00e9 Maria\u2019s conviction and against the genocide committed by the State of Israel, inside the building, the court\u2019s president himself pressed for the session to end quickly, even citing the number of emails received during the campaign for the acquittal of the PSTU president as cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstration was not limited to defending Z\u00e9 Maria, but linked the trial to the attempt to criminalize the Palestinian people\u2019s struggle and to the defense of democratic freedoms and freedom of expression. At this moment, Zionist organizations, such as CONIB (Israeli Confederation of Brazil), are persecuting activists across the country who dare to criticize the war of ethnic cleansing waged by the State of Israel in Palestine. There are also actions against journalist Breno Altman, PT leader Jos\u00e9 Geno\u00edno, activists from the S\u00e3o Paulo Palestinian Front\u2014such as Soraya Misleh, Muhammad Kadri, and Rawa Al-Sagheer\u2014and against the Palestinian bar and cultural center Al-Janiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also part of the campaign against the Palestinian people and to shield the State of Israel from any criticism is Bill 1,424\/26, introduced by Representative Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP), which equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, falsely equating opposition to a supremacist ideology\u2014one that provides the basis for genocide in Palestine\u2014with the crime of racism against an entire ethnic group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div>
View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/blockquote>