Barbosa predicts victory for the defendants regarding the appeals.

247 – In the group that defends the thesis that appeals for clarification cannot be presented to the Supreme Federal Court, the president of the court, Joaquim Barbosa, is counting on the possibility of victory for the defendants in the trial of Criminal Action 470. He has already denied the first appeal, presented by Delúbio Soares along with the other 24 convicts, but the case is expected to go to the full court, since the defense intends to appeal the decision.

With the case now in the hands of all the justices, it could end favorably for the defendants. This is because, according to Barbosa's speculation, it's possible that at least five justices don't think like him. In other words, they believe that this type of appeal – used when the defendant has at least four votes in favor of acquittal – is valid. If the vote ends in a tie, the point must be in favor of the convicted.

The controversy surrounding this type of appeal stems from the fact that it is included in the Internal Regulations of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), but according to Barbosa, it is no longer provided for by law. In the opinion of the president of the Supreme Court, to think that appeals for reconsideration are valid "would be the same as accepting the idea that the STF could create or resurrect appeal routes not provided for in the Brazilian legal system, which would be inadmissible."

As journalists Raymundo Costa and Claudia Safatle point out in an analysis published in Valor Econômico, the delay in the process makes the possibility of impunity a real possibility. This is because, if it is decided that appeals are admissible, a new rapporteur and a new reviewer will be chosen for the case. Barbosa, who reported on the 'mensalão' case, took seven years to study the more than 50 pages of the case files. Another such amount of time for a new minister could lead to the statute of limitations expiring on the sentences imposed in the 2012 trial.

Below are some excerpts from Valor Econômico's analysis regarding the isolation of the president of the Supreme Federal Court, titled "Joaquim Barbosa seeks support against isolation," which even mentions an alleged threat surrounding the minister's home:

Barbosa feels like he's fighting a lonely battle and even feels threatened by what seem like attempts at intimidation, such as a black car, always with four or five male passengers, that keeps circling around his house.

(…)

Barbosa considers himself isolated. In just a few months at the helm of the Supreme Court, he has already clashed with the three magistrates' associations. He questions the privileges of the judiciary and the funding these associations use to hold seminars in expensive resorts or abroad. Cautious, he allowed the press to enter to record a meeting he had with the presidents of the magistrates' association. He just didn't count on them bringing their vice-presidents to the meeting. One of them raised his voice, starting a heated exchange that ended with Barbosa demanding respect for the president of one of the three branches of government. It was too late; he had fallen into the magistrates' trap. Barbosa also had a heated exchange with a journalist, acknowledged his mistake, and apologized in an official statement.

Barbosa is a judge of republican conduct. He recently received a request for a hearing from lawyer Márcio Thomaz Bastos, former Minister of Justice in the Lula government and defender of the Banco Rural executives in the mensalão case. Barbosa decided to grant the hearing, scheduled for Monday, but notified the other party in the mensalão case: the public prosecutor.

The current president of the Supreme Court, it is a fact, personifies the fight against impunity. Like a short-tempered magistrate, Barbosa enjoys public support. Wherever he goes, he is greeted or receives requests to pose for photographs. Even abroad, as happened recently in the United States with Brazilians residing in New York.

Despite this support, Joaquim Barbosa rejects the idea of ​​running for president of the Republic. He has told aides on more than one occasion that he doesn't have the "stomach" for politics. At 58 years old, he still has 12 years left on the Supreme Court before reaching the mandatory retirement age.