Lava Jato: Brazil’s Supreme Court annuls all evidence obtained through contracts with Odebrecht

Magistrate of the Brazilian Supreme Court All resources obtained through cooperation agreements with construction company Odebrecht were canceled on Wednesday. This influenced many politicians and businessmen from Brazil and other countries to frame the move Washing Jado.

The decision is made by the judge Jose Diaz Tofoli In response to the security request of the President of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da SilvaHe was convicted of corruption and money laundering and served 580 days in prison, which was later overturned and based in part on evidence provided by Odebrecht.

In his opinion, the Magistrate ordered agencies such as the Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Legal Office and the National Council of Justice to investigate the liability of public agents involved in the Leninici contract with the construction company.

Toffoli also criticized the terms of the Odebrecht deal and ordered more information on leniency.

According to Toffoli, “the evidence obtained from the cooperation agreement undertaken by Odebrecht led to the annulment. objective” and not just Lula’s “subjective universe”.

The above agreement was reached through negotiation Brazil, America And Swiss The construction company was suspected of paying bribes in three countries.

He explained, however, that there was no request for international legal cooperation to investigate the process, noting that “formal channels were ignored” and that it would have occurred “outside the relevant law”.

According to the magistrate, in addition to direct contacts with authorities in the North American country and Switzerland, The judges acted without the “requisite competence” of official institutions such as the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Public Security.

For Toffoli, he said the negotiations were fruitful “Extremely Serious Consequences” to the Brazilian government and to “hundreds of defendants and legal persons in criminal proceedings Administrative incapacity, Electoral processes And Civil Procedures Distributed throughout the country and abroad.

The magistrate’s decision is an extension of the decision handed down by the judge in 2021. Ricardo Lewandowski (who retired today and whose cases Toffoli took over) It declared that evidence related to the Lula cases obtained with the contract with Odebrecht was invalid.

The current Brazilian president, who took up his third term in January 2023 after ruling the country between 2003 and 2010, was barred from running in the 2018 presidential election as he was politically disabled due to a conviction that was later overturned.

Senator and former judge Sergio MoroThe man who jailed Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, criticized a Supreme Court magistrate’s decision this Wednesday and said corruption was real.

“The corruption in PT (Workers’ Party) governments is real, the culprits have confessed and more than 6,000 million rai have been recovered (About 1,200 million dollars at current exchange rates) to Petrobras,” said the former judge who presided over what was dubbed Operation Lava Zato on social media.

According to Moro, the Lava Jato work was done “in accordance with the law” and with “decisions upheld by high courts over the years.”

As for the magistrate’s decision, Morrow said he would take the issue to the Senate “For truth, integrity and the right to democracy”.

(with information from EFE)