Lula da Silva’s nominee for Justice Minister, Flávio Dino, threatens Brazilian Spring protesters

Lula da Silva’s nominee for the office of Minister of Justice and Public Security, scandal-ridden Flávio Dino, claimed that calling “SOS Armed Forces” is a crime.

“This person not only can be arrested but should be,” the socialist said in an interview on TV Cultura’s Roda Viva program on Monday (Dec. 19) when asked about the peaceful demonstrations in front of barracks that question the legitimacy of the elections.

“It’s in the Penal Code,” Dino added, eliciting a smile from journalist Felipe Frazão of O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.

“We are not in government yet. The future defense minister, José Múcio, will certainly have a dialogue with the institutions to achieve compliance with the law.”

Asked about demonstrations in military areas of the armed forces protected by law, he said that judicial action could be taken in those places.

“I believe in dialogue,” Dino said. “But if dialogue fails, every day is torture.”

Last week, Dino said calling Lula da Silva a “thief” was also a crime. “There is not a single conviction against former President Lula da Silva,” the future justice minister said.

“This is pure prejudice. It is a sentence that is not supported by any facts. Therefore, these people are criminals.”

Although Dino is the leading spokesman for the transition group on judicial issues, he has already been involved in some investigations related to suspected money laundering and corruption, see:

ACCUSED OF RECEIVING R$200,000 FROM ODEBRECHT

José de Carvalho Filho, an executive of the construction company Odebrecht, made the accusation against Flávio Dino.

In exchange, according to the whistleblower, Dino would defend matters of interest to Odebrecht.

However, the governor denies the accusation.

Carvalho Filho allegedly revealed that the then-governor of Maranhão demanded R$200,000 from the construction company for election campaigns for the Maranhão government between 2010 and 2014.

However, Minister Felix Fischer of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ruled that the investigation should be closed due to a lack of evidence.

At the time, the STJ minister stressed the possibility of new investigations if new evidence was presented.

GOVERNMENT TAINTED BY CORRUPTION IN HEALTH

In 2017, the Federal Police arrested 14 investigated in Operation Catchers, which pointed out at the time millionaire frauds in the health area of Maranhão, governed by Dino.

In all, the Federal Court in São Luís ordered the arrest of 17 people. Among those arrested were four servers or former servers of the Health Secretariat.

At the time, investigators found that even an ice cream parlor, in February 2015, ‘overnight’ underwent a legal transformation and became a hospital services management company for issuing cold invoices and raising R$ 1.1 million in public funds.

Sometime later, doctor Mariano de Castro Silva, accused of acting as an operator of the millionaire scheme, committed suicide.

He was found dead with a rope in his apartment in Teresina, the capital of Piauí.

INVESTIGATIONS INTO FUEL PURCHASES

With suspected irregularity, a contract of Flávio Dino’s government was under investigation regarding the purchase of fuel intended to fuel a helicopter in 2020.

According to the investigation, the government of Maranhão contracted to buy 175,000 liters per year to fuel a helicopter model EC-145 used by the Security Secretariat.

According to preliminary information gathered by the investigators, the annual consumption of this helicopter, considering the use provided in the contract of 60 hours per month, would be 144,000 liters.

For the PGR (Prosecutor’s office), there are suspicions that 31,000 liters have been bought too much, which would cause a loss of R$267,000 to public coffers.

INVESTIGATED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT

Finally, Flávio Dino is also investigated by the Public Ministry of Maranhão, in the criminal sphere, for suspected irregularities in his government.

The objective is to investigate a public agent’s alleged practice of embezzlement of resources.

However, the Public Ministry of the State put the investigation under secrecy, and since then, there is not much information about the case.

The news is from ATUAL7 and other portals that republished the information.