Cardozo: government did not influence Lava Jato.
"The Executive branch can only say... that it did not, would not, and could not interfere in any way with these plea bargains or with the decisions made about them" by the Attorney General of the Republic and the Supreme Court Justice, said the Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, adding that the people who will be investigated should not be prejudged.
Reuters - The Minister of Justice, José Eduardo Cardozo, vehemently denied any government interference in the list of politicians and other individuals to be investigated as part of Operation Lava Jato, which is investigating a corruption scandal at Petrobras.
On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki authorized the opening of an investigation against 47 politicians, both current and former, and two other individuals as part of these investigations.
This Saturday, Cardozo told reporters in São Paulo that imagining any interference from the federal Executive branch to "protect allies or to punish anyone is something that cannot be sustained by a mere factual analysis and the institutional reality that Brazil has today."
According to the minister, the factual analysis shows that the measures announced by Zavascki, based on requests from the public prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, are related to the plea bargain of money launderer Alberto Youssef and former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa.
How, Cardozo questioned, could the government interfere in the testimonies of Youssef and Costa, also noting that among the politicians who will be investigated are members of the PT, his party and that of President Dilma Rousseff.
"The Executive branch can only say... that it did not, would not, and could not interfere in any way with these testimonies or with the decisions made about them" by the Attorney General and the Supreme Court Justice, said Cardozo, adding that the people who will be investigated should not be prejudged.
He also emphasized that Zavascki's decision shows that there is nothing to investigate regarding President Dilma Rousseff, citing a passage from the measure released on Friday.
"Regarding the 'reference to indirect involvement' of the President's campaign, the Attorney General himself (Rodrigo Janot) had already stated that, based on the available evidence, there was no conclusion that would lead to proceedings against the head of the Executive Branch; therefore, strictly speaking, there is nothing to file away in relation to the President of the Republic," said Zavascki.
According to Cardozo, this clearly shows that the decision to exonerate the president was made because there were no facts to be investigated, and not because the Constitution prevents the president of the Republic, while in office, from being held accountable for acts unrelated to her duties, as stated in article 86.
"It is a mistaken interpretation that President Dilma was not investigated as a result of article 86... the text is clear: she was not investigated first because there are no facts, because there is no evidence, because there is nothing to file away," said Cardozo.
(By Alexandre Caverni)