RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On the eve of his retirement from the Supreme Court (STF), Justice Celso de Mello decided to extend for a further 30 days the inquiry into the alleged political interference of President Jair Bolsonaro in the Federal Police, as accused ex-Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro. In his ruling, Mello authorized the request made by the Federal Police, which received a favorable opinion from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
It is possible that the new Supreme Court justice will take over as the rapporteur of the case. President Jair Bolsonaro appointed Judge Kassio Nunes Marques to fill Celso de Mello’s seat, the Court’s oldest justice, who will retire on October 13th. It is standard practice in the STF that new judges inherit their predecessors’ cases.
However, there is a chance of a redistribution of reporting, so that the case that threatens Bolsonaro will not be in the hands of his nominee. Marques’ name was submitted by the president to the Senate, with the Centrão’s endorsement, a group that comprises center and center-right parties.
However, on social media, Bolsonarist activists oppose the appointment on the grounds that Marques is not an advocate of the conservative agenda. It will be up to the senators to have the judge undergo confirmation hearings to either accept or reject the nomination.
On Monday, Celso de Mello also requested that the Supreme Court Chief Justice Luiz Fux include Bolsonaro’s appeal in the trial docket, who is requesting authorization to testify in writing in the inquiry investigating him.
Fux is expected to refer the case to trial as early as Wednesday, October 7th, given the imminence of Mello’s retirement. Fux’s aides claim it would be difficult for the chief justice to refuse this “last request” by the STF doyen.
Mello had ordered that Bolsonaro give testimony in person to the Federal Police, who even sent a letter to the Planalto to schedule the session. But the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), who defends Bolsonaro in the inquiry, requested that the President have the same right granted to Michel Temer in the past, his predecessor in office.
Two Supreme Court justices, Luis Roberto Barroso and Edson Fachin, allowed Temer to provide written testimony in inquiries in which he was being investigated. The Prosecutor General’s Office agreed with Bolsonaro’s defense request.
During Celso de Mello’s medical leave, Justice Marco Aurélio Mello, acting as a substitute for the doyen, decided to suspend the inquiry until the court’s plenary decided on the AGU’s request.
The investigation seeks to determine whether Bolsonaro acted illegally in deciding on changes in the Federal Police’s command. The suspicion was raised by Moro, who decided to leave the government after the President dismissed the PF’s Director-General Maurício Valeixo. Moro had appointed Valeixo to the post and considered him a man of trust.
Source: Estadão Conteúdo