The turmoil began several spectators were expelled from Olympic arenas for displaying anti-government banners and T-shirts. Judge Joao Augusto Carneiro Araujo made the ruling after a request by the Ministerio Publico do Brasil, an independent body defending the public interest. They argued that the International Olympic Committee, the Brazilian government and the Rio organizing committee had overstepped their authority when they banned peaceful political protests from Olympic venues.

Rio 2016 argues that the judgment contravenes Brazil’s Olympic law, which bans  “flags for purposes other than the festive and friendly event.” However, the judge disputes this, saying the law only specifically prohibits offensive, racist, xenophobic or discriminatory messages, and “does not appear to ban peaceful demonstrations of a political nature through posters, use of T-shirts and other lawful means in official sites of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016”.

João Augusto Carneiro de Araújo, the federal deputy judge, ordered Rio 2016 organizers to “refrain immediately” from the repression of peaceful demonstrations, which are guaranteed by Brazil’s constitution. He imposed a penalty of 10,000 reais (£2,300) for violations of his order.

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Brazil has been subject to a massive fraud scheme in the state-owned oil giant Petrobras, while suffering a contractive economy (it has the biggest recession since 1930). Among the crisis, the opposition led by Eduardo Cunha, linked President Dilma Rouseff to the scandal. Eduardo Cunha himself has been asked to step down by the Brazilian Supreme Court as he’s also said to be implicated in the scandal and has also appeared in the Panama Papers. While President Dilma Rouseff’s impeachment trial is taking place, Michel Temer has taken her post as Interim President.

The new government assigned by Temer has been making various changes, in which government spending is being cut which they claim will help better the economy, whereas critics point out the reforms are being conducted at the cost of social benefits. During this time, a third minister, appointed by the Interim President had been denounced due to links to corruption (following the resignation of the Minister of Transparency). Brazilian Senior Minister Romero Jucá had also stepped down amid leaked phone conversations. Temer has also been linked to the corruption scandal before by the allegations made by a former Petrobras executive, Sergio Machado. A verdict in the impeachment trial will come after the Olympics.

For more on the impeachment (accuser’s point of view) click here and here.
For more on the impeachment (defendant’s point of view) click here and here.