Supreme Court overturns ex-President Lula’s graft conviction
Brazil’s Supreme Court decided yesterday (Mar. 23) to recognize former Judge Sergio Moro was partial in the case involving ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Operation Car Wash. Three votes were cast for the partiality thesis, two against.
The move quashes the conviction of the former leader in the case surrounding the triplex apartment in coastal Guarujá, São Paulo. On March 8, an individual decision by Justice Edson Fachin also annulled the conviction, but Moro’s bias had not been recognized.
During the first session on the case, Justices Gilmar Mendes and Ricardo Lewandowski voted for the bias thesis. Rapporteur Edson Fachin decided against the acknowledgment.
At the Tuesday session, Justice Nunes Marques voted against the appeal lodged by Lula’s counsel, as he understands that the habeas corpus request cannot be used to rule the former judge was biased. The justice also understood that Moro’s partiality cannot be determined based on messages intercepted illegally.
“The evidence is utterly unacceptable. Understanding it differently is an illegitimate way to legalize a hacker’s doing in Brazil,” he stated.
Next, Justice Cármen Lúcia stated the third vote in favor of the bias thesis, claiming Moro was partial in the case. However, the justice said the understanding should not be applied to other cases.
“The case was made a spectacle of” and the impartiality of the decision was breached, Cármen Lúcia declared.
In the habeas corpus petition, the lawyers maintain that Moro could not have proffered the sentences in the triplex apartment case, as he was partial in the trial.
The lawyers mentioned facts taken place during the probes, including when the former president was taken for questioning, an authorization to have lawyers’ offices tapped, and alleged efforts to prevent Lula’s release.
They also made reference to messages among Car Wash prosecutors, which were intercepted illegally by hackers.
The counsel of other individuals under investigation may mention the bias of the former judge and the convictions of other Car Wash defendants may be annulled.
