Supreme Court authorizes forensic analysis of video of ministerial meeting and orders transcription of its contents.
The decision was made by the most senior member of the Supreme Court, Justice Celso de Mello. The expert analysis was requested by the Federal Police and will be carried out after the contents of the case are presented to the parties involved in the investigation at the court.
STF - Minister Celso de Mello, rapporteur of Inquiry (INQ) 4831 which investigates statements made by former minister Sérgio Moro regarding an alleged attempt by President Jair Bolsonaro to politically interfere in the Federal Police, authorized the PF to carry out an expert analysis of the digital media (external HD) containing the audiovisual recording of the ministerial meeting held on the 22nd. The work should begin immediately after the simultaneous showing of the video of the meeting to those involved in the process, which will take place this Tuesday (12), at 8 am, at the National Institute of Criminalistics of the Federal Police, in Brasília (DF).
The Federal Police requested authorization from the minister to conduct the forensic examination, considering it a relevant measure to verify the authenticity and integrity of the presented files, as well as to technically and scientifically explore the content of the audiovisual recordings relevant to the investigations, immediately after the procedural actors have full knowledge of the material. The forensic examination will analyze whether there was any editing, alteration, selection of fragments, or even suppression of data relevant to the present investigation.
Integrity of the evidence
In the request submitted to the rapporteur of the inquiry, the Federal Police (PF) states that the expert work aims not only to guarantee the chain of custody of the evidence presented, but also to support the investigations with adequate, useful, and necessary evidentiary elements for the instruction of the inquiry and the clarification of the facts ascertained. In this sense, the PF understands that carrying out the expert analysis will meet the principles of efficiency and effectiveness, by allowing only authentic and complete criminal evidence, which meets the validity criteria, to be used in the inquiry. In accepting the PF's request, Minister Celso de Mello allowed the Attorney General of the Republic, the Solicitor General of the Union, the delegate in charge of the investigation, and former Minister Sérgio Moro the possibility of appointing a technical assistant and submitting questions for the expert analysis.
Transcription
By order of Minister Celso de Mello, a federal criminal expert will make a complete transcription of the external hard drive and deliver it personally, respecting confidentiality, to his chief of staff at the Supreme Federal Court (STF). The senior justice adopted this measure because he was not in Brasília during the pandemic due to being part of the at-risk group, a circumstance that led him to work remotely. According to the minister, this will give him full knowledge of the contents of the external hard drive and allow him, "with full awareness of the elements existing in such files, to decide on the disclosure, in whole or in part, of what transpired at the ministerial meeting of April 22, 2020, held at the Palácio do Planalto."
- Full text of the Federal Police request.
- Full text of Justice Celso de Mello's decision.