Court annuls 3 more convictions of Sérgio Cabral judged by Marcelo Bretas

The Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region (TRF-2) annulled this Wednesday (6) three more convictions of former governor Sérgio Cabral, of Rio de Janeiro, judged by judge Marcelo Bretas as part of the investigations into Operation Lava Jato in the state. Bretas was declared incompetent to judge the cases of the Unfair Play, C’est fini and Ratatouille operations in the 7th Federal Court.

The decision by the TRF-2 judges reduces Cabral’s total sentence by 40 years and 6 months, which is now 335 years, 2 months and 29 days. He still faces 18 valid convictions, two of which were confirmed in the second instance and which, initially, would prevent him from running for elected office due to the Clean Record Law.

Cabral’s defense issued a statement stating that he continues to fight to “minimize” the damage caused to him by Operation Lava Jato. The former governor’s lawyers highlighted that the annulments of the criminal cases are historic victories.

“Finally, after ten years, the annulments of criminal actions, recognition of lack of just cause, incompetence, among other procedural atrocities, have been recognized. Ultimately, we are facing a historic struggle in favor of fundamental rights and guarantees, one of the pillars of the democratic rule of law”, stated lawyers Patrícia Proetti and João Pedro Proetti.

On social media, Cabral celebrated the decision and thanked the lawyers. “Thank you God, thank you Patrícia Proetti and the team.
[…] We continue to fight, obstinately, for fundamental rights and guarantees, pillars of the Democratic Rule of Law. We continue,” he stated.

This TRF-2 decision is in line with previous positions of both the TRF-2 itself and the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in relation to Bretas. According to the understanding of the higher courts, the judge’s role would be limited to cases involving bribes paid by construction companies.

Operation Unfair Play investigated alleged payments of bribes to members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the vote that chose Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics.

Ratatouille dealt with transfers made by businessman Marco Antônio de Luca for service contracts with the state government. And C’est fini involved businessman Georges Sadala and his contracts with the Cabral management in Rio de Janeiro between 2007 and 2014.

Sérgio Cabral was released in December 2022 after six years in pre-trial detention, accused of charging bribes for large contracts during his tenure as governor. After gaining freedom, he began to move freely with an electronic ankle bracelet, using social media extensively and even expressing interest in running for federal deputy.