Palocci will be heard about possible abuses at Lava Jato – 05/17/2023 – Power

One of the main names in the first government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former minister Antônio Palocci wants to be heard by federal judge Eduardo Appio, who took over the Lava Jato processes at the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba at the beginning of the year and became known for the criticisms he makes of the authorities of the operation. A hearing was scheduled for Friday (19).

In a petition presented by lawyer Tracy Reinaldet, Palocci makes himself available to clarify the context of his arrest, of his award-winning collaboration agreement and also to point out “excesses and errors” of Operation Lava Jato.

Without anticipating specific facts, Palocci says that its objective is to contribute to the improvement of the criminal justice system, to “make it more democratic and guaranteeing, avoiding the perpetuation of disrespects to the Constitution of the Republic, the Code of Criminal Procedure and Law 13.869 /2019”, which deals with crimes of abuse of authority.

Upon receiving the petition, on Monday (15), Appio determined on the same day that an audience with Palocci be held next Friday at 2:30 pm on an urgent basis. The magistrate also writes that the statement is justified “in view of what was reported by the diligent lawyer in relation to possible abuses and the practice of torture against Antônio Palocci”.

Lava Jato critics, such as Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court, have used the expression “torture” to refer to arrest warrants whose purpose is to force the accused to report.

Appio has already said he is a guarantor and contrary to the methods of former authorities in the operation, such as former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol.

Palocci was imprisoned in Paraná for more than two years in the wake of criminal actions by Lava Jato. He was sentenced in 2017 for passive corruption and money laundering by the then judge Sergio Moro to more than 12 years in prison, but the sentence was annulled by the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) in 2021.

The crimes, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, involved contracts with Odebrecht for the construction of the Sete Brasil rigs and the Enseada do Paraguaçu shipyard. Palocci was described by the MPF as the “main administrator of the general current account for bribes” between Odebrecht and the PT.

He denied the accusations, but later ended up signing a rewarding collaboration agreement with the Federal Police and asking to disaffiliate from the PT.

In 2017, Palocci stated in a statement that Lula had made a “blood pact” with the contractor Odebrecht. At the time, Lula’s defense said that Palocci spoke “lies without evidence to try to obtain judicial benefits and get out of prison”.

In his statement, the former minister addressed alleged irregularities at Petrobras and in pension funds in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments, of whom he was also a minister. One of the main chapters of the accusation was made public by the then judge Sergio Moro less than a week before the first round of the 2018 election, which aroused criticism from PT members and allies for the alleged interference in the campaign.

Lava Jato authorities have always said that there were no abuses in the execution of collaboration agreements and in the conduct of investigations.