The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) unanimously decided to open an inquiry to investigate a sexual harassment complaint against Minister Marco Aurélio Buzzi, involving an 18-year-old woman at a beach in Santa Catarina. The case is also proceeding in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), with Justice Kassio Nunes Marques as rapporteur, and in the National Justice Council (CNJ). Buzzi denies the allegations and requested medical leave.
In an extraordinary session held on the night of February 4, the plenary of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) unanimously decided to initiate an inquiry to investigate a sexual harassment complaint against Minister Marco Aurélio Buzzi. Justices Raul Araújo, Isabel Gallotti, and Antônio Carlos Ferreira were drawn to form the investigation commission, which must complete its work within 30 days. If the conduct is proven, Buzzi could face severe punishments, such as compulsory retirement.
The accusation comes from an 18-year-old woman, daughter of the minister's friends, during vacations on January 9 at Balneário Camboriú beach in Santa Catarina. According to the account, while the young woman was taking a sea bath, Buzzi, who was visibly excited, tried to grab her three times, leaving her in a state of despair. She told her parents immediately, and the family left the minister's house, filing a police report.
The case reached the STF as a criminal inquiry due to Buzzi's privileged forum, with Justice Kassio Nunes Marques as rapporteur. In the CNJ, the administrative part proceeds in secrecy at the National Justice Corregedoria, under the rapporteurship of Justice Mauro Campbell. The young woman's mother, a respected lawyer, approached STJ justices in the preceding days, generating outrage in the court. A commission of female justices reported the episode to President Herman Benjamin, with emotional accounts.
In a statement, Buzzi said he 'was surprised by the content of the insinuations published by a website, which do not correspond to the facts' and repudiated 'any and all inference that he committed an improper act.' After the case was revealed by the Metrópoles website, the minister requested medical leave and stepped away from the court. Buzzi has been on the STJ since 2011, appointed by former President Dilma Rousseff.
