Justice rejects compensation for R $ 100,000 by Luciano Hang against Marcelo Adnet

The court rejected a claim for compensation for moral damages made by businessman Luciano Hang against Marcelo Adnet. The case involves a publication conducted during the 2022 election campaign, when the humorist shared an advertisement from Décio Lima (PT), candidate for the government of Santa Catarina, which brought an alleged audio of Hang saying he did not want to pay taxes, among other statements.

Adnet, when sharing the publication, wrote: “Evarness above all,” which motivated Hang’s process. The businessman, known for his support for former President Jair Bolsonaro, asked for compensation of $ 100,000.

However, when defending himself, Marcelo Adnet proved, along with his lawyers Ricardo Brajterman and Pedro Clarino, that Hang had already been convicted of tax evasion: in 2002, the Federal Court applied to the entrepreneur sentence of three years, 11 months and 15 days in prison. The penalty was converted to community services and payments, and was later extinguished after the amounts.

Judge Joana Ribeiro, from the 2nd Civil Court of the District of Brusque (SC), considered that there was no legal basis to condemn the humorist. “The mention of the defendant’s phrase and republication are supported by freedom of expression,” said the magistrate, who still noted that there was no direct mention of Luciano Hang in Adnet.

The judge also stressed, in a decision to which the F5 It had access that “the criticism, although by some it can be considered acidic, is part of the freedom of expression and political debate, and there is no excess that constitutes abuse of right or indemnifiable unlawful act.” He added: “Dissatisfaction with public criticism, especially when founded on true fact, is not enough to give rise to civil reparation, especially when the author positioned himself as a social actor (public figure) within the elections, invoking favorable and contrary manifestations to the content he defended.”

In conversation with the F5, Ricardo Brajterman considered the sentence as “exquisite”. He said Adnet received the result with tranquility. “The Judiciary of Santa Catarina noted that my client did not define, slander or injured did not use hatred speech, did not spread fake news, was not racist or encouraged violence. The actor merely reposed a post with criticism and this does not constitute criminal or civil offense.”

The decision is still appealed.