Cardozo believes in the legality of the Monte Carlo wiretaps.

Agency Brazil - The Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, reaffirmed this Wednesday, the 13th, that he believes in the validity of the wiretaps from Operation Monte Carlo, conducted by the Federal Police, which investigated a corruption scheme allegedly orchestrated by the businessman from Goiás, Carlos Augusto Ramos, known as Carlinhos Cachoeira. This Tuesday, the 12th, Judge Fernando Tourinho Neto, of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1), considered the wiretaps illegal, despite being authorized by a first-instance judge.

"It's a controversial issue. The Ministry of Justice's position is that this evidence was legally collected, it is legal evidence, that it followed judicial decisions. Now, the final word rests with the Judiciary," said the minister, who participated in an event at the National Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Cardozo also said that if the evidence is definitively annulled, the Justice system will lose "a precious body of evidence" that could punish "people who act contrary to the law, probity, and the State itself."

The legality of the wiretaps in Operation Monte Carlo began to be analyzed yesterday (12) in the Third Panel of the TRF1 based on a habeas corpus request from Cachoeira's defense. The lawyers asked for the annulment of the evidence derived from the interceptions, the suspension of the criminal action against Cachoeira in Goiás and the release of the businessman, who has been imprisoned since February 29 in the Papuda Prison, in Brasília.

First to vote, rapporteur Tourinho Neto understood that the wiretaps are invalid because the judge of the First Court of Valparaíso de Goiás (GO), who authorized the procedure, did not sufficiently justify the measure. Immediately after Tourinho's vote, Judge Cândido Ribeiro requested to review the case. There is no date set for the resumption of the trial.