"Car Wash": A week after the death of Judge Zavascki, Brazilian Supreme Court authorises to resume of Odebrecht testimonies

Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia of Brazil's Supreme Court has authorised assistant judges who had been working with the late Justice Teori Zavascki to resume formal proceedings as of today (Jan 24), to examine plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht building giant executives in the “Car Wash” corruption investigation.

Justice Zavascki was the judge in charge of the Car Wash case in the Supreme Court. He interrupted his court holidays to examine 77 plea bargain statements heard from Odebrecht executives and admit them as evidence in the Car Wash probe, but he died in a plane crash last Thursday (19).

Zavascki had already authorised his assistant judges to begin hearing the whistleblowers to verify that they had made their statements as part of more than 800 testimonies heard by the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) out of free will. This is a formal step in the proceedings.

On Monday (23), Justice Cármen Lúcia met with Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot, who has the authority to request the Car Wash statements be dealt with as a matter of urgency. During the court holidays, she can authorise emergency actions on proceedings pending before the Supreme Court.

The contents of the Odebrecht files are keenly anticipated by the society and especially the political establishment, and based on prior leaks in the case, expected to implicate dozens of politicians in the Petrobras corruption scandal.

Source: Agência Brasil

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Brazilian Supreme Court bowed to the pressure in its clash with Senate, but Calheiros no longer in Presidential substitution line

Brazil’s Supreme Court voted this Wednesday to leave Senate President Renan Calheiros in his powerful leadership post, raising hopes economic overhauls making their way through Congress can be approved.

Calheiros had defied a preliminary high court order issued Monday to stand down as Senate leader following his indictment on embezzlement charges, sparking a constitutional crisis.

The Court’s decision should aid President Michel Temer, who has been counting on Calheiros, a political ally, to help shepherd through Congress unpopular austerity measure aimed at closing a worrisome budget deficit and rebuilding Brazil’s credibility with investors.

Monday’s order had been issued by a lone justice on the 11-member Supreme Court. Brazilian Supreme Court judge Marco Aurélio Mello ruled Senator Calheiros shouldn't remain as Senate Speaker following his indictment for falsifying his Senate expense reports, allegations Calheiros denies. In Brazil, such temporary rulings are binding until they are overturned by the full Court.

The High Court indicated recently, in a different preliminary vote, that officials under indictment couldn’t be in the presidential substitution line. Mello based his order to remove Calheiros from the Senate Leadership on that understanding.

But the full Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Mr. Calheiros can remain as Senate Speaker, but will be removed from the line of presidential substitution. “It was a decision by large majority, there is no way to rebel against it,” said Justice Celso de Mello, the most senior of the justices. “The court decided strictly within its competency and the constitution”.

A Constitutional expert expressed dismay the high court let a powerful politician choose to defy an order by one of its members.

“They’re sending a message that he is stronger than they are,” said Ivar Hartmann, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.

Alessandro Molon, a representative from Rede, the party that asked for Calheiros to be removed from the Senate Presidency, was at the court and said afterward, “This is a bad decision. We’ve missed an opportunity to turn a page in Brazil’s History.”

Senator Calheiros’s refusal to follow the initial order was unprecedented, and had ratcheted up tension that has been building for months between Brazil’s judiciary and legislative branches.

Source: Mercopress Agency

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Brazilian Supreme Court authorizes investigation on Temer's campaign funding

Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Teori Zavascki, has authorized a preliminary investigation into allegations from former Transpetro head Sergio Machado that President Michel Temer illegally solicited campaign money in 2012. Machado, who secured a plea deal after being implicated in the widely publicized Lava Jato scandal, said that Temer had asked for donations to benefit Sao Paulo's mayoral campaign for Gabriel Chalita.

Transpetro is a subsidiary of state-run oil company Petrobras at the center of a sprawling political kickback scheme.

Judge Teori Zavascki on Friday referred the case to Attorney General Rodrigo Janot, who should determine whether to open a case and formally investigate the president and other politicians based on findings in the preliminary probe.

Temer had denied any accusation he requested money for the campaign of Chalita, who was then a member of the president's political party, PMDB.

In his testimony, Machado said the campaign contribution was made legally by the engineering group Queiroz Galvão but resulted from a kickback on contracts with Petrobras.

Machado's plea deal would include the return of approximately US$23 million to public coffers and home detention for three years. Machado would be allowed to receive visits only from lawyers, medical professionals, and 27 close relatives and friends.

Temer took over the country's leadership almost a month ago after the Brazilian Senate voted to remove Dilma Rousseff from the presidency for practicing cosmetic accountancy, the practice of using public money to fund state or federal social programs without the approval of Congress.

According to various reports, independent auditors did not find Rousseff involved in breaking fiscal responsibility laws. But many of those who voted for her impeachment are being investigated.

Temer is also under investigation by Sao Paulo justice for similar charges related to financing electoral campaigns. As part of the political understanding with the congressional coalition that supports Temer, he will not be running for office in the 2018 presidential election.

Source: Mercopress Agency

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