BRASILIA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Tuesday rejected the accusation of racism against presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who was stabbed Thursday.
In a 3-2 vote, the STF cleared Bolsonaro, from the Social Liberal Party, of the racism accusation presented by the Attorney General of the Republic.
In April, Bolsonaro was reported for racism remarks made during a conference last year in the Rio de Janeiro Hebrew Club.
The candidate was reported to have said that if elected president he would not give resources to non-governmental organizations, nor would he give any space to indigenous reserves or to communities that have descended from slaves, called "quilombos."
"I went to a quilombo and the lightest Afro-Brazilian weighed seven arrobas (about 80 kg). They did nothing ... more than a billion dollars a year are spent on them," he added.
On Aug. 28, the vote was suspended at 2-2 so that the fifth judge, Alexandre de Moraes, could investigate the evidence further.
On Tuesday, Moraes voted against the charge, saying that although Bolsonaro's statements were "crude" and "vulgar," they did not intend "to deny or contradict the suffering caused by slavery to black people or their descendants."
Bolsonaro has already faced two charges for insulting opponents and inciting rape.
Last week, the far-right candidate was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign event. He underwent surgery and is now in a stable condition, said medics.
