Judge removed from Lava Jato has 28 suspicion requests – 07/07/2023 – Panel

The requests for suspicion presented by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) of Paraná against federal judge Eduardo Appio, temporarily removed from the 13th Court of Curitiba at the end of May, will still be analyzed by the 8th Panel of the TRF4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region). The 13th Federal Court of Curitiba is responsible for the remaining processes of Operation Lava Jato.

Between the beginning of February until the magistrate’s removal, the MPF filed 28 requests for suspicion in cases related to Lava Jato. All with similar content, pointing to Appio’s endorsement on social networks of publications by PT leaders, donations to PT electoral campaigns, and his vehement criticism of Lava Jato methods, in the period in which it was commanded by Sergio Moro and Deltan Dallagnol, former judge and former prosecutor.

The MPF’s requests were first presented to Judge Appio himself, but the magistrate took time to analyze the case and continued moving the Lava Jato processes normally, which led to an appeal by the prosecutors to the TRF4.

Members of the MPF allege that a judge, if he chooses not to declare his suspicion, must immediately refer the matter to the second instance. Appio judged only one request for suspicion, on May 20, when he was officially on vacation. He rejected the play and did not forward it to the second degree.

Now, the case is in the hands of the 8th Panel of the TRF4, which should soon put the matter on the agenda, even after Appio’s temporary removal, determined by the Special Administrative Court of the same court.

Last week, federal judge Loraci Flores de Lima ordered Appio to be subpoenaed, so that he could comment on the suspicion requests.

The temporary removal occurred after Internal Affairs revealed that Appio would have made a call to lawyer João Eduardo Barreto Malucelli on April 13, pretending to be someone else, and apparently trying to prove that he was talking to the son of federal judge Marcelo Malucelli, then Lava rapporteur Jet in second instance.

João Eduardo is a partner of Senator Sergio Moro in a law firm and, at that time, Marcelo Malucelli and Appio had conflicting judicial decisions about the defendant Rodrigo Tacla Duran, who since 2017 has been saying that people close to Moro tried to extort him.

A report by the Federal Police points out that the audio of the call “strongly supports the hypothesis” that it is Appio’s voice. But, the defense of the judge removed has been denying authorship.

Appio hired two defense fronts, one at the CNJ (National Council of Justice), led by lawyer Pedro Serrano, and another within the scope of the Special Administrative Court of TRF4, with lawyer Alexandre Wunderlich.

A prior defense of Appio was filed by Wunderlich on June 7, but the matter has not yet returned to the agenda. Appio may respond to administrative disciplinary proceedings.

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