Prosecutors Charge Pablo Marçal Over 2024 Attacks on Datena as TRE-SP Reverses One Ineligibility Ruling

Overview

• The São Paulo Electoral Prosecutor’s Office filed a criminal complaint accusing Pablo Marçal of injúria and difamação for statements made during the 2024 mayoral race.
• Prosecutors cite Instagram lives and posts in which he called José Luiz Datena “aggressor of women,” “sexual harasser” and “sugar eater,” and alleged he “bought a girl’s silence.”
• The filing seeks a conviction and a minimum moral-damages award, with the maximum combined sentence cited reaching five years and four months plus fines.
• On Nov. 6, the TRE-SP unanimously granted Marçal’s appeal and overturned one ineligibility ruling tied to a paid video offer for council candidates, with relator Cláudio Langroiva deeming the evidence insufficient.
• A separate case over paid video “cuts” and misuse of media was paused on a request for review by Judge Régis de Castilho and is set to resume Dec. 4, leaving Marçal’s eligibility unresolved; Datena denies the accusations and Marçal has not commented.