Clashes between Zanin and Moro had provocations and ironies – 06/18/2023 – Politics

Lawyer Cristiano Zanin, appointed by President Lula to the STF (Federal Supreme Court), and Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) had tense clashes that included provocations and ironies in hearings of the criminal actions of Operation Lava Jato from 2016 to 2018, when Zanin defended the PT and Moro was the judge of the causes, in the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba.

They will be able to face each other in the lawyer’s Saturday session scheduled for next Wednesday (21) in the Senate, in one of the stages of the nomination process for the chair in the STF. The discussions took place in witness statements and in Lula’s interrogations in the processes of the triplex in Guarujá (SP), the Atibaia site (SP) and the land of the Lula Institute.

In addition to verbal interventions in the hearings, Moro’s performance in the processes was also formally questioned by Zanin in petitions to courts and bodies linked to the Judiciary.

Zanin’s thesis of Moro’s partiality in Lula’s judgments was recognized in 2021 by the STF, in the wake of the leak of private dialogues between Moro and the then-prosecutor of the Republic Deltan Dallagnol, when the current senator had already left the judge’s chair to take over a ministry of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The former judge was a name ventilated by Bolsonaro for a STF ministerial chair, but Moro left the government in 2020.

wanted by SheetZanin and Moro preferred not to speak out.

See the episodes of clashes between the lawyer and the former judge:

December 2016 – Statement by former building caretaker José Afonso Pinheiro – Guarujá triplex case

The clash took place in the testimony of José Afonso Pinheiro, former caretaker of the building where the Guarujá triplex is located, who was associated with Lula by the Public Ministry.

“Oh, the defense [de Lula está] suggesting that she [a testemunha] lying because of politics?”, said Moro.

“Your Excellency is putting words in my mouth. I didn’t suggest anything, I asked questions absolutely pertinent to the subject”, replied Zanin.

Moro then suggested that the former caretaker could become the target of some retaliation by the PT’s defense. “Let’s see if he won’t suffer a criminal complaint, an action for compensation – the witness – by the defense”, said the then judge.

“It depends. When people commit illicit acts, they answer for their acts. I think that’s what the law says,” replied Zanin.

“It will file a claim for damages, then, against her [a testemunha]doctor?”, asked Moro.

“I don’t know. Are you advocating anything for her?” asked the lawyer.

The then magistrate suggested that the PT’s defense filed lawsuits “against everybody”.

“I think that nobody is above the law. In the same way that people are subject to certain actions, the authorities should be too”, replied Zanin.

Moro continued, in an ironic tone: “That’s good, Doctor. A very good line of law.”

“I register Your Excellency and receive it as a compliment”, concluded Zanin.

May 2017 – Lula’s first interrogation – Guarujá triplex case

Moro questioned Lula about witnesses who said that the Guarujá apartment was being prepared for the PT. Zanin intervened and asked Moro to specify who these witnesses were.

Lula, then, intervened: “Can I speak? I want to avoid that you fight too much with my lawyer”.

“It’s your lawyer who is fighting, I’m trying to flow with the audience”, replied Moro.

September 2017 – Second interrogation of Lula

Moro said that the defense had not presented bank deposits to pay the rent for one of the properties occupied by Lula. The then judge asked practically the same question nine times: “After this accusation was formulated at the end of last year, it was not possible to find out how this was paid?”

Zanin intervened in the discussion and said: “If the model hasn’t changed yet, it’s up to the prosecution to prove guilt and not the accused to prove innocence.”

Moro stated that he was only looking to “assist” the petista in the matter.

April 2018 – Testimony by Marcelo Odebrecht – Lula Institute case

Right at the beginning of the hearing, Zanin said that the defense was being restricted because it did not have access to the complete files on the computer of businessman Marcelo Odebrecht. The lawyer’s decision was therefore not to ask Odebrecht any questions.

“I think it’s a bit of a joke on the defense,” Moro said.

Later, Zanin said: “Your Excellency always has kind words to address to the defense.”

At the end of the statement, Moro listed questions that Zanin had previously asked Odebrecht and said that none of them depended on access to the archives to be answered. The judge then agreed to grant access to all the contents of the contractor’s computer.

June 2018 – Statement by Fernando Morais – Atibaia case

Journalist and writer Fernando Morais was heard as a witness for Lula’s defense, at the time he was writing a book about the PT candidate.

According to Morais, the singer Bono Vox would have compared the petista to Nelson Mandela: “After Mandela’s death, there is only one person in the world capable of bringing together rich and poor, black and white, fat and thin, and that person is called Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva”.

At this point, Moro intervened. “Is this question relevant to the case for what reason, doctor?”, the judge asked Lula’s lawyer.

Zanin argued that the reputation of the accused was important to the process, starting a discussion between the defense and the court. “I don’t know if Your Excellency is bothered by the question of reputation,” said the lawyer.

“I just don’t think the process should be used for this type of propaganda,” replied Moro.

June 2018 – Testimony of the employee of the construction company OAS Misael de Jesus Oliveira – case of the Atibaia site

Moro and Zanin argued when the judge dismissed a defense question. “Once again the doctor is being hostile to the witness. It always happens when he has a witness contrary to the defense’s thesis”, said Moro.

“I’m doing my job, which is discovering the facts. So the questions have that objective,” replied Zanin.