Leo Lins talks to the camera on YouTube video. His lawyers criticized the verdict. Credit: @leolins.oficial
The court sentenced comedian Leolins to more than eight years in prison to incite intolerance through a stand-up performance seen by more than three million people on YouTube.
On Tuesday, June 3rd, Brazilian comedian Leolins was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for making respectable, routine, discriminatory statements targeting a wide range of minority groups, including blacks, obese people, older people, Brazil’s disabled, evangelicals and Jews, including people of blacks, obese, gays, evangelicals, evangelicals, and Jews.
The federal court in Sao Paulo ruled that the right to freedom of expression is not absolute, and that the latter must win when it confronts human dignity. The Lins defense team has announced plans to appeal the verdict.
The court found that performances by Lyns and others contributed to “promoting the spread and intolerance of verbal violence in society.” The joke in question was part of the 2022 show that was titled I’m worried (“Interest”) It was also uploaded to YouTube. The prosecutor’s office filed a complaint about the content and in 2023 another court ordered the video to be removed from the internet. By then it had already accumulated over 3 million views.
Collective moral damage
In addition to his prison sentence, Lyns is ordered to pay a 300,000 fine (approximately 54,000 euros) for collective moral damages. His lawyer criticized the verdict and said, “It’s very annoying because of the jokes told on stage, when comedians receive the same punishment as those convicted of drug trafficking, corruption and even murder.”
The court considered the widespread adoption of this material to be a worsening factor. In its ruling, the Third Criminal Office of the Federal Court of Sao Paulo said, “Freedom of expression cannot be used as an excuse for making hate, prejudice or discriminatory remarks.”
Several fellow comedians made comments in the Lins defense. Antonio Tavett, creator of the show backgroundIn X, I write: “You may not find Leolins’ jokes funny – you may dislike them too, but it’s insanity and harmful to sentence them to prison. I hope this irrational decision has been overturned.” Comedian Jonathan Nemer said he was disappointed that Brazil is “a country that takes comedian jokes seriously, but treats politicians’ actions as jokes.”
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