Tijolaco: Supreme Court puts an end to 'Inquisition law'

By Fernando Brito, from brick

Nine executives from construction companies cited in Operation Lava Jato had their prison sentences converted to house arrest, with the use of electronic ankle monitors, by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), after nearly six months of detention in Paraná.

They were not released, as members of Moro's group are quick to claim, even though there is not even an indictment filed against them by the Public Prosecutor's Office, much less a sentence.

If that's the case, then we must say that Paulo Roberto Costa, who has already been convicted, is free.

In fact, they even had the right to dine at a steakhouse, as reported by Estadão.

Teori Zavascki's decision to convert pre-trial detention to house arrest – without revoking it – is beyond suspicion, since it was followed by none other than Gilmar Mendes, who used the trial for yet another of his traditional political rallies.

The "right of the Inquisition" established by Sérgio Moro, in which someone is arrested and only released from their cell by confessing and denouncing others, has ended, at least partially and provisionally.

That is, of course, if Dr. Moro manages to contain his impulses and not resort to some legal trickery that would lead to the arrest of at least one or two of the accused, just to show his power to the Supreme Court.

It wouldn't be the first time, although I don't believe it will happen now.

But we've returned to a minimum of legal rationality.

No arguments are needed to demonstrate it.

Just read the opposing arguments, crudely summarized by the lynching duo Diogo Mainardi and Mário Sabino regarding the "blow" suffered by Judge Sergio Moro and the task force of prosecutors.

a) It will become more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain plea bargains from these wrongdoers, who will only return to prison in the event of a final conviction, with sentences that, given the current and future composition of the Supreme Federal Court, may be worth the sacrifice of silence.

b) A precedent has been set so that João Vaccari Neto and the other criminals still imprisoned will not remain in pretrial detention for very long, which reduces the pressure for them to make plea bargains.

c) The process of tearing Judge Sergio Moro apart will intensify, especially in a large part of the press, including the anti-PT but pro-construction media, which will accuse him of ineptitude.”

In other words, the investigation and trial process is based on only two factors: coercion and the media.

Much like half a millennium ago, in the courts of the Inquisition.