The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) sentences Jaime Lerner to three and a half years in prison.
A world-renowned urban planner and former governor of Paraná was convicted of bypassing bidding procedures in the construction of a road; his habeas corpus petition was denied.
Fernando Porfírio_ 247 - Former Paraná governor Jaime Lerner was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for illegally waiving bidding procedures in the construction of a road. The decision was made by the Superior Court of Justice, which denied habeas corpus to the former governor.
Lerner was sued for including an addendum to the concession contract for the construction of the BR-476 federal highway and the PR-427 state highway with the company Caminhos do Paraná. This addendum was not foreseen in the bidding process and resulted in higher costs than anticipated. The federal highway was under the responsibility of the Paraná state government through an agreement.
According to the complaint, the extension of the concession for a section of the BR highway was suggested by the company Caminhos do Paraná, for the purpose of "economic and financial rebalancing" of the contract.
This proposal was reportedly accepted and officially registered by the Paraná State Highway Department (DER-PR). The agreement to add the section was signed in October 2002, and by August 2003 the Ministry of Transport had already declared it illegal.
The Ministry declared the decision to condition the concession of a new stretch of federal highway on a specific company being granted the right to operate it null and void. According to the Ministry, a new bidding process should have been held.
When requesting habeas corpus, Jaime Lerner's defense argued that the case was time-barred, since the former governor is over 70 years old. They also claimed the Ministry of Transport's indictment was invalid because it failed to describe any individual conduct by Lerner.