Alexandre Frota offers to pay fine for journalist Luan Araújo

Cotia city councilor and former federal deputy Alexandre Frota publicly said he would cover the R$ 2,216.30 fine imposed on journalist Luan Araújo. The fine stems from a defamation conviction after Araújo reported that former federal deputy Carla Zambelli was "followed by a sect of extreme‑right patients" and described the far‑right as "small‑minded, malicious and a mercenary of death".

Araújo’s lawyer, Renan Bohus, said Frota has not yet made contact to arrange payment. The fine follows a case in which Zambelli chased Araújo with a firearm in São Paulo streets before the 2022 presidential runoff, leading to her own sentencing by the Supreme Federal Court to five years and three months in prison, in addition to a prior ten‑year sentence for hacking the National Justice Council. Zambelli fled to Italy, was briefly detained, and released after the Italian Court of Cassation annulled her extradition request. Frota’s offer remains limited to statements on social media.