PL dismisses Moro but TRE-PR denies request and confirms testimony

Initial author of the impeachment request due to suspicion of economic abuse in the campaign of Sergio Moro (União-PR) for the Senate, the Lideral Party (PL) sent it to the Regional Electoral Court of Paraná (TRE-PR) “request for withdrawal” of the testimonies of the former judge and alternates Luís Felipe Cunha and Ricardo Guerrascheduled for next Thursday (7).

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Despite the dismissal of the party, which was responsible for requesting testimony from those being investigated, judge Luciano Carrasco Falavinha Souza rejected the request and maintained the hearings for next week.

“Despite the withdrawal, I intend to listen to those being investigated, with which the Public Ministry agrees, aware that the absence of those being investigated does not imply any sanction, as per precedent in my report in this Court. Therefore, I maintain the hearing for the testimony of those being investigated”, declared Souza, who took over reporting on the process on the eve of the testimonies of the listed witnesses, which took place last Wednesday (29) and Friday (30).

Of the 11 depositions initially planned, only two were carried out, mainly due to the dismissal of witnesses from the PL and the PT-PV-PCdoB Federation, responsible for another action with the same object, which ended up motivating the unification of the process. Moro’s defense also dismissed two witnesses on Friday, including former federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR).

In the legal environment, the dismissal of witnesses initially listed, testimonies from those being investigated or even the act of waiving deadlines for demonstrations are seen as ways to speed up processes. PL and PT lawyers are betting that the documents and contracts provided by União Brasil e Podemos, the party in which Moro was presented as a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, are sufficient to corroborate the thesis of abuse of economic power in the judgment of the TRE-PR collegiate.

Moro’s defense argues that the testimony of Murilo Hidalgo, president of the Paraná Research Institute, “made it clear that no expenditure during Sergio Moro’s pre-campaign in Paraná made him better known to the populationsince his image comes from his role as a Lava Jato judge.”

After the date set for the testimonies of Moro and his substitutes, the TRE-PR must open a deadline for final statements and the expectation is that the trial that could culminate in the senator’s impeachment will be scheduled for January, after the judiciary recess.