The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) in Paraná, Carolina Bonfadini de Sá, asked the Federal Court to disqualify the new Lava Jato judge, Eduardo Appio, who considers Luiz Lula da Silva, innocent in the processes to which he has been subjected.
The left has been desperately trying for months to clear the past of Brazil’s ex-prisoner and now president.
The appointment of the new judge should have played a decisive role in this endeavor, rewriting what had happened in operation Lava Jato, the most significant corruption case Brazil has ever seen.
And now this.
According to the MPF, Appio has shown political support to those investigated by the operation, which would constitute a “breach of impartiality” by the judge.
“One cannot believe that he (Appio) will perform a fair and impartial trial in the processes underway before the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, arising from Operation Lava Jato,” says an excerpt from the document.
The MPF cites a request by deputies to open a federal police investigation into an alleged donation by Appio to the campaign of sworn-in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT, progressive-globalist).
The judge denies any wrongdoing.
There are also accusations that the judge signed electronically as “LUL22” in some cases in the official Federal Justice system.
The MPF also recalls a case from 2015, when Appio carried out a real estate transaction with the former Petista federal deputy, André Vargas, later convicted of the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering under Operation Lava Jato.
The document says there is “evidence of proximity, affinity and linkage of the judge, with political campaigns and party manifestations” and that “the Federal Public Ministry believes that there is a breach of impartiality of the Magistrate for the instruction and future trial of all existing processes”.
In the request for suspicion, the MPF also points out that the judge’s father, already deceased, benefited from a leniency agreement between Justice and the contractor Odebrecht.
Also attached were publications of the judge on social networks, in which the magistrate attacked the Lava Jato.
“He manifested, throughout 2019, ideological, electoral, political, partisan opinions and even questioned the performance of members of the Judiciary and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Operation Lava Jato,” the MPF said.
WHITEWASHING FOR LULA
Eduardo told the world a few days ago that he had been appointed to rewrite the past, claiming the PT leader’s arrest “had no legal support”.
Appio criticized former judge Sergio Moro and former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol.
“It is undeniable that those dialogues contaminated the operation’s credibility,” he said, referring to the leaking of dialogues between Lava Jato prosecutors and Moro.
“The issue, both of ‘Vaza Jato’ and the current senator assuming the post of minister in the Bolsonaro government, practically the day after the election, are facts that eroded credibility as a whole.”
The judge cringed as he commented on his identification in the judiciary’s electronic system, which he used to log in under the code “LUL22.”
This was a reference to the current president.
In the interview, Appio said he could not comment on the matter.
According to the judge, the issue is up to the cybersecurity team of e-proc – the electronic system of Justice processes.
“They are talking about an access username that identifies him with then-candidate and now-president Lula,” said columnist Josias de Souza.
Appio again said he could not answer the question.
According to the judge, these “facts” harm the work of the judiciary.”