Brazil’s Supreme Court finalizes decision holding Judge Sergio Moro biased in “Triplex” case

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – By a vote of 7 to 4, Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) decided today, June 23, to uphold the decision that recognized bias of former judge Sergio Moro in the conduct of the corruption trial of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in relation to the “Triplex” apartment in Guarajá, after an investigation by the Lava Jato task force.

In April, when the STF vote was still 7 to 2 on the question of bias, the proceeding was interrupted after a request by Justice Marco Aurélio to review the record.

In today’s vote, Justice Marco Aurélio and the Chief Justice Luiz Fux voted against recognizing the bias of the former judge. For the two justices, the evidence of dialogues between Moro and the prosecutors of Operation Lava Jato are not admissible, because they were illegally obtained and cannot be used as evidence in the trial.

“These sources who obtained illegal, stolen, and laundered evidence were denounced and arrested for it, so it cannot be that this evidence is not considered illegal,” Fux said.

With the confirmation of the decision by the full STF, the case concerning the Triplex, which has been remanded to a federal court in Brasília, must start over from scratch, without using any of the evidence produced at the original trial in Curitiba, which resulted in Lula’s conviction and a sentence, after several appeals, to 8 years and 10 months in prison, as well as removing his right to become a candidate for elective office.