“Gag Law”: Controller General defends silencing of federal public servants

A memorandum published in June by the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), the federal organ responsible for the “defense of public property, transparency and fighting against corruption”, lists several stances that could lead to “disciplinary hearings” to federal public servants: publicizing opinions about conflicts or internal issues, divulging critical statements about the organ that employs the worker in social media and news-outlets, and conducts by the servants that have a negative impact on the image and credibility of their institution.

The website Congresso Em Foco published an article about CGU’s memorandum and remembered that in May, servants from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) denounced that the organ’s Ethics Committee issued a technical note that prohibited public statements with critics against the network in social media by the environmental agents.

A few days later, the National Association of Environmental Public Servants (Ascema - Nacional) denounced the memorandum as unconstitutional. “No one can forbid a public servant who is also a citizen, to manifest his opinions, under the allegation that those could harm the organ and its agents reputation,” says the public announcement by Ascema, which also opposed “any kind of censorship, intimidation or persecution against public servants”.

Another occasion of silencing dissent happened in July at the Ministry of the Environment, when public servant Marcelo Grossi was dismissed of his position as secretary of the Ethics Committee of the Ministry after he denounced minister Ricardo Salles to the Union Finance Court (TCU), Presidential Ethics Committee (CEP) and the Office of the Controller General (CGU). Grossi requested the federal control organs to intervene since Salles was withholding the nominations of members of the Ministry’s ethics commission for over one year.