Interview with Lava Jato coordinator confirms lawfare against Lula, says defense.

Do Newspapers in Brazil - Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's defense lawyers criticized, this Saturday (14), the statements made by federal delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo about the eventual arrest of the former president. In an interview with Veja magazine, the delegate stated: "We missed the timing to arrest Lula". For the defense, the interview confirms lawfare (use of law and legal procedures for purposes of political persecution) against Lula.

The coordinator of Operation Lava Jato at the Federal Police, Maurício Moscardi Grillo, stated in the report that there was a time when investigators had evidence, audio recordings, and indications that could characterize an attempt to obstruct justice on Lula's part, but that today, "the elements that would justify a request for preventive detention are not so evident."

The delegate also stated that it was a mistake to have taken the Workers' Party member to testify at Congonhas Airport, because it ended up allowing him to portray himself as a victim. The delegate affirms that the Federal Police still hasn't fully digested the fact that the agency was left out of the Odebrecht plea bargain and that "there is a personification on the part of some prosecutors as heroes in the task force." And he warns: changes in the leadership of the Federal Police, as considered by Minister Alexandre de Moraes (Justice), could compromise the progress of Lava Jato.

See the note from Lula's lawyers:

Nota

Regarding the interview given by Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo, coordinator of Lava Jato at the Federal Police, to Veja magazine ("From Lula's imprisonment", 01/14/2017), we make the following observations, in our capacity as lawyers for former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva:

1- The disclosure by the press of facts that occurred in the department constitutes a disciplinary transgression according to the law governing the legal regime of federal police officers (Law no. 4.878/65, art. 43, II) and, in addition, the manner in which Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo addresses former President Lula is incompatible with the Code of Ethics approved by the Federal Police (Resolution no. 004-SCP/DPF, of 03/26/2015, art. 6, II) and with the protection of the honor, image and reputation of citizens in general ensured by the Federal Constitution and infra-constitutional legislation and, therefore, will be subject to appropriate legal measures.

2- On the other hand, the interview is illuminating in acknowledging that Lava Jato operates with "timing" or a sense of opportunity in relation to Lula, highlighting the eminently political nature of the operation with regard to the former President.

It is "lawfare," the use of law and legal procedures for purposes of political persecution, repeatedly exposed by Lula's defense, and now indirectly affirmed by the coordinator of Lava Jato himself in the Federal Police.

3 – If Lula had committed a crime, the Federal Police, after subjecting him to an unprecedented investigation, would have concrete and robust evidence to demonstrate the wrongdoing and to support the resulting legal consequences.

The same audios and evidence that Lava Jato had in March 2016 are available today and reveal no crime. But Lava Jato, according to Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo himself, works with "timing" or a sense of opportunity in relation to Lula.

4- The interception of the conversation between former Presidents Lula and Dilma on March 16, 2016, by Operation Lava Jato was deemed unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Federal Court. Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo and Lava Jato defy the Supreme Court and reveal contempt for the Democratic Rule of Law by making statements about this material without this record. Furthermore, it is necessary that the Federal Delegate coordinating Lava Jato clarify the reason for recording this telephone conversation after a court order to halt the interceptions, and also the technology used that allowed the dissemination of the content of this material less than two hours after the recording, considering reports of informal – and therefore illegal – collaboration by agents from other countries in Brazil. The disclosure of this telephone conversation less than two hours after it was recorded, in addition to violating the law (Law No. 9.296/96, art. 8, in conjunction with art. 10), is outside the Brazilian technical standards verified in similar situations.

5- The coercive detention of Lula to give testimony at Congonhas Airport was an act of abuse of authority (Law No. 4.898/65, art. 3, "a") because it constituted an attack against the former President's freedom of movement outside the circumstances authorized by law. For this reason, we filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office for appropriate action and, given the inaction, documented in a notarized statement, we filed a subsidiary criminal complaint, which is currently being processed before the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region. The issue is also the subject of the communication we sent in July to the UN Human Rights Committee. Therefore, Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo should reconsider not only the location of Lula's coercive detention, but, above all, the unconstitutionality and illegality of the act. It should also be noted that the location at Congonhas Airport where Lula was taken has glass walls and precarious security, putting the physical integrity of the former President, his collaborators, lawyers, and even the public agents who participated in the event at risk, which is unjustifiable from any perspective.

6- By classifying Lula's defense actions and measures as acts to "disrupt Lava Jato," Federal Delegate Mauricio Moscardi Grillo and Lava Jato demonstrate, on the one hand, contempt for the right to defense and, on the other hand, place themselves above the law, as if they were incapable of being held accountable for the abuses and illegalities being committed in the course of the operation in relation to the former President. Furthermore, it should be investigated whether individuals who have committed acts unrelated to their public functions or with abuse of authority are being assisted by "lawyers of the Union"—paid by society—as Mauricio Moscardi Grillo reveals in his interview.