Deputies ask the CNJ to remove the new Lava Jato judge

A group of federal deputies presented, this Tuesday (7), a Disciplinary Complaint to the National Council of Justice (CNJ) against the judge of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, Eduardo Appio. The document asks the CNJ to initiate an administrative disciplinary process and also, as a precautionary measure, to remove the judge.

Last week, the Federal Public Ministry asked the Justice that the magistrate be considered a suspect to act in the cases of the Lava Jato operation.

In the removal request, the parliamentarians cite the existence of electoral donations on behalf of the magistrate for the campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and of the state deputy of Paraná Ana Júlia Ribeiro (PT). Donation information is available on the Divulgacand 2022 website, with a value of R$13 for Lula’s campaign and R$40 for the deputy’s campaign.

Appio, however, claims that it is “fake news”. He denies that he made any deposits for candidates in the last election, and says that his bank details prove it.

In the view of the parliamentarians, the magistrate also “failed to fulfill his functional duties” by making statements in an interview that, in theory, “hurt the decorum and ethical precepts applicable to the judiciary”. Appio criticized the conduct of the work by former Lava Jato members, including former judge and senator of the Republic Sergio Moro and former prosecutor and federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol. According to the request, the judge used expressions such as “slapstick comedy” and “punitivist empire”.

Another issue pointed out was the “LUL22” login, which would have been used by the judge to access the e-proc System. The information was published by the newspaper The globe.

A People’s Gazette he was unable to confirm the authenticity of the prints and tried to contact the press office of the Federal Court of Paraná, on February 25, to request Appio’s position on the case, but received no response.

“By choosing “LUL22″ as one of his personal logins, the accused magistrate not only gave clear evidence of his party-political preferences, but also made electoral propaganda for the candidate Lula to the other users of the system”, mention the parliamentarians in the request.

One of the deputies who signed the complaint against the judge is Deltan Dallagnol (Pode-PR). Besides him, Adriana Ventura (Novo-SP), Alfredo Gaspar (União-AL), Kim Kataguiri, Luiz Phillipe Bragança (PL-SP), Marcel van Hattem (Novo-RS), Maurício Marcon (Pode-RS) and Pedro Aihara (Patriota-MG).

Sought by the report this Tuesday (7), Judge Eduardo Appio did not comment on the removal request submitted by the federal deputies to the CNJ.

In an interview with People’s Gazette, on February 24, the magistrate also stated that he is against the arrest in second instance and that he believes that the arrest of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) caused “irreparable damage”. In addition, he also questioned what he considers to be “excesses” committed by the defunct task force.