Lula's appointment as minister to be tried next week

Justice Gilmar Mendes of the Supreme Court (STF) said Tuesday (Apr. 5) that the top court is slated to try next week the validity of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's appointment as Rousseff's chief of staff.

Mendes stated that, right after receiving the report from the Prosecutor-General's Office, he would hear Lula's appeals so that the court may come to a decision.

On March 18, Gilmar Mendes suspended the Lula's nomination as chief of staff as he understood that the move aimed to provide the former president with a legal shield by removing Judge Sérgio Moro's jurisdiction over him.

Operation Car Wash aims to investigate how Lula was allegedly benefited by OAS construction company's purchase of a seaside apartment in Guarujá, São Paulo, and by renovation works on a farm often visited by the former president in Atibaia, also in São Paulo.

In appeals submitted to the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General's Office rebutted Mendes's opinion, saying that being brought under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is no means of finding legal shield.

On Monday (4), Lula's counsel said Judge Sérgio Moro is trying to interfere in the country's political organization. The statement can be found in the lawyers' request for the overruling of Mendes's decision.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira