Advance a decision against Sergio Moro who would dynamite Lava Jato

RIO DE JANEIRO.- The Brazilian cut was at the gates of consider former judge Sergio Moro as “partial” in the process of the triplex of Guarujá against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, what would pave the way for the complete annulment of all bribery proceedings against the leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) and this would facilitate the entry of other convicts with resources replace the causes of operation Lava Jato.

The decision, dealt with in the second chamber of the Supreme Court, was suspended on Tuesday when it was tied with 2 votes to 2 and one vote was missing. In addition, a judge who had voted in favor of Moro announced that she would vote again. The magistrates were demonstrating on a habeas corpus presented by Lula’s defense in 2018, questioning the alleged bias of the former judge of Curitiba in the case in which the former president is accused of having received a triplex as a bribe from the OEA construction company.

The vote was interrupted for the second time at the request of Judge Kassio Nunez, a magistrate promoted by President Jair Bolsonaro, to analyze the case with more time. There is still no date for resuming the scan, but the Court showed a tendency to declare Moro’s bias.

The resumption of Moro’s bias analysis came just a day after the corruption convictions against Lula were overturned by Judge Edson Fachin, allowing the PT leader to regain his political rights and be able to compete in 2022.

Fachin had decided that Moro, who had convicted Lula at first instance, was not the natural judge of the proceedings since the alleged crimes were not linked to the oil company Petrobras. The decision had been interpreted as a maneuver aimed at preserving Operation Lava Jato. and avoid further damage, even preventing the analysis of Moro’s bias: in this way, the content of the proceedings against Lula could be exploited by a federal judge in Brasilia, the new destination of cases.

However, Fachin’s intention to try to avoid the discussion of bias was rejected yesterday by 4-1 and all processing of cases against Lula could ultimately be overturned if Moro is declared partial.

The former president was scheduled to speak yesterday at noon at the São Bernardo do Campo Metalworkers Union, the same place where he surrendered to the police in April 2018 and where he began his career as a trade unionist. When he learned that Moro’s bias would be addressed, he postponed his reappearance until today.

Political importance

Lula is preparing to regain prominence on the political scene. Without being declared innocent, but with his clean and competitive criminal record, the legal discussion in court fuels the narrative of political persecution.

Of the five members of the second chamber of the Court, ministers Gilmar Mendes and Ricardo Lewandowski voted for the annulment of all acts signed by Moro. Fachin and Cármen Lúcia had already positioned themselves in favor of Moro in 2018. But Lúcia predicted that she would vote again, opening up to speculation that she might change her decision in the face of new events. When the minister voted, the hacked messages to members of Operation Lava Jato were not yet known, in which Moro allegedly coordinated the prosecution’s strategy with prosecutors for the megacause. Lula’s defense argues that the former judge’s proximity to the operation’s prosecutors proves that former minister Bolsonaro exceeded his powers as a magistrate.

Gilmar Mendes voted the hardest. He assured that Moro had acted with partiality to remove Lula from the 2018 conflict. “You are not fighting crime by committing a crime,” said the judge, who cited that Moro ended up assuming a ministry “from the government of the political opponent”.

Gilmar and Lewandowski have defended that all tests be canceled, reducing the chances that the triplex case will have immediate consequences for Lula. The case should be restarted from scratch in Brasilia.

“The declaration of bias could be the formalization of the defeat of Lava Jato and Moro,” said Michael Mohallem, professor of law at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, for whom the publication of the messages between Moro and the prosecutors had already undermined the law. legitimacy. the operation.

The professor pointed out that, ironically, Judge Nunes, appointed by Bolsonaro to the court, could end up convicting Moro and, therefore, possibly overturn other Lava Jato decisions. “Bolsonaro is no longer interested in the anti-corruption agenda, having made opportunistic use in the campaign. Today, he competes with Lula and is more interested in that Moro is not a candidate ”.

After the interruption, Fachin’s decision remains valid, which barely cancels the sentences but preserves the contents of the file. It is likely that your opinion will also be considered by all judges of the Court.

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