Brazilian president says no judge should remain under suspicion and promises judicial reform if reelected.
On Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva demanded that the Supreme Court conduct a rigorous investigation so that none of its judges remains under suspicion, after some of them became embroiled in controversy over their proximity to an imprisoned banker.
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“The highest court in the Brazilian judiciary needs to be an example. So, let it be investigated with the utmost rigor,” said the Workers’ Party (PT) candidate for reelection.
The Supreme Court held a tumultuous extraordinary session, filled with accusations and insults, to determine whether to open an investigation into Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
He became known worldwide for overseeing the trial that led to the imprisonment of former President Jair Bolsonaro for an attempted coup. However, no conclusion was reached, and the proceedings were suspended at the request of one of the justices.
Currently, De Moraes is under suspicion because of his alleged proximity to Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of Banco Master who has been held in preventive detention since March over a multimillion-dollar financial fraud that has triggered a massive political and judicial crisis ahead of the Oct. 4 presidential elections.
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According to messages obtained from his cellphone, Vorcaro sought De Moraes’ protection amid the investigations and even asked him, days before his arrest, whether he should leave the country.
For his part, De Moraes reviewed a multimillion-dollar service and consulting contract between the law firm of his wife, Viviane Barci, and Vorcaro’s Master, raising further suspicions.
In this context, Lula said, “no one, absolutely no one, can escape a trial when there are suspicions,” at a time when his main opponent in the election, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro’s son, is seeking to link De Moraes to Lula.
“It cannot be that the Brazilian people see the Supreme Court lose credibility before society,” Lula protested, while also demanding to know “who took money and who participated in Vorcaro’s scheme.”
“Because Vorcaro’s gang involved many people, from various levels of the judiciary and from politics, it is necessary to investigate everyone without distinction,” the Brazilian president said.
Lula promised that, if he wins the election, he will push for a profound reform of the judiciary that would address the terms of Supreme Court justices — currently lifelong — and the way they are selected. They are currently appointed by the head of state and confirmed by the Senate.
“And there has to be one thing that is clear: Whoever is a judge or works in the judiciary cannot expect to become rich. People cannot be in the judiciary while their children work as lawyers, their wife works as a lawyer, their father works as a lawyer,” Lula said.
“The Supreme Court has to establish criteria to moralize the judiciary. The Supreme Court has to be the highest example in this country. In the Supreme Court, no one can remain under suspicion,” he stressed.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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