Dalmo Dallari: Moro acknowledged that his objective is political.
“If he believes the legal aspects are closed and insists on remaining until Lula is eventually convicted, he acknowledges that his objective is political,” says jurist Dalmo de Abreu Dallari; read the report by Eduardo Maretti on Rede Brasil Atual.
By Eduardo Maretti, from Current Brazil Network
At an event held this Monday (2) in São Paulo, Judge Sergio Moro, of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, stated that Operation Lava Jato is in its final chapters. "It is possibly coming to an end," said the magistrate, upon receiving an award from the University of Notre Dame, in the United States, for his alleged performance against corruption.
According to legal expert Dalmo Dallari, the judge's statement is contradictory. "If he believes the legal aspects are concluded and insists on remaining until Lula's eventual conviction, he acknowledges that his objective is political." In July, Sérgio Moro sentenced Lula to nine years and six months in prison.The defense's appeal is awaiting a decision from the 8th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (based in Porto Alegre). In the former president's second trial by the judge, the The expectation is that he will follow the "script". and condemn him again.
Dallari, however, believes that the persecution of Lula is benefiting the former president himself and producing effects contrary to those expected by the so-called task force. “Lula is being persecuted with a veritable obsession because of his status as a presidential candidate. I've said there's an old Brazilian proverb that goes: 'speak ill of me, but speak of me.' Lula doesn't even need to spend money on electoral advertising, because his enemies are doing the advertising for him. Nobody has been mentioned as much as him. In truth, it's stupid advertising.”
A constitutional law expert, Dallari, states that Moro contradicts himself even while acknowledging that "there are still relevant investigations underway, but a large part of the work has already been done," in the judge's own words. "If he has been following this for so long and he himself acknowledges that the case is nearing its end, that there is nothing more to add, and it is time to conclude, it is because the essential work has already been done."
In Dallari's opinion, it can be said that Lava Jato started well, but ended up deviating and becoming distorted. "The beginning was good, in the sense of punishing politicians and public officials. Essentially, the punishment of large businessmen, which was not a Brazilian habit, since corrupt large businessmen were practically immune to punishment. In that respect, Lava Jato took a step forward. But it ended up becoming distorted."
The operation had several decisions that, according to Dallari, rendered it legally invalid. For example, "the absurd pardon" granted to the Batista brothers (of JBS) by the then Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot. "He acknowledged that they were confessed criminals, made a deal, and didn't even file charges. He had a constitutional duty to file charges," Dallari assesses. "This completely demoralized Lava Jato and made it clear that the motivation was not legal. If they cooperated with the investigation, that has no legal force to extinguish their criminal liability."
According to the newspaper The State of S. PaulThe pardon obtained through the plea bargain of brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista benefited them with "the pardon of crimes whose combined sentences could individually reach from 400 to 2 years in prison."