Brasília's Praça dos Três Poderes will be closed to the public on Tuesday, September 15, for the session in which Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) reviews a Federal Police report on 52 messages exchanged between Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of Banco Master, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The Federal District's public security office said protests and demonstrations of any kind are banned from the square.
The square sits between the seats of Brazil's three branches of government: Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court. The justices convene at 10 a.m., in a session called by Chief Justice Edson Fachin last Wednesday. The court will decide whether to open or shelve an investigation into Moraes, an unprecedented judgment on a sitting justice, and will weigh a request by the Prosecutor General's office (PGR) to void the police report on procedural grounds.
Security operation
According to the Federal District security office, policing will be reinforced around the square's perimeter and at the court's annex. Demonstration groups will be allowed no closer than the José Sarney road, in front of Congress. Traffic on the Ministries Esplanade will remain open in both directions, subject to closures depending on the demonstrations. The district government will also fly Military Police drones and use surveillance cameras, along with the intelligence cell created in August to protect the capital during the 2026 election campaign, which brings together 22 district and federal agencies. Policing will also be reinforced at the central bus station and at the city's two main gateways, Brasília Airport and the interstate bus terminal.
At the presidential palace, the Institutional Security Cabinet did not confirm additional measures but said it may deploy fences "to complement and reinforce security measures when the situation recommends." According to the blog of columnist Andréia Sadi at G1, a group of justices moved to postpone the session on the eve of the vote, and Fachin refused.
Rules inside the court
Access to the court building will feature metal detectors and X-ray equipment at the main building and the annex, including for lawyers, journalists, aides and staff. Only guests authorized by the protocol office may enter the chamber, cellphones will be sealed in plastic bags as in public service exams, and food, drinks and demonstrations are banned during the session. Fachin reserved the chamber's front row for 13 retired justices, ten of them former chief justices.
Fachin opens the session with a summary of the facts, the PGR speaks, the rapporteur casts the first vote and the other justices follow in the court's standing order. According to reporting by G1, court insiders expect a narrow 4-to-3 vote in favor of opening some form of inquiry against Moraes. If one justice requests more time to review the case, a move known as vista, the 90-day deadline in the court's rules would push a final decision to February.