Lawyer Rodrigo Tacla Duran.| Photo: reproduction

Minister Dias Toffoli, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), granted this Tuesday (6) a safe-conduct to authorize lawyer Rodrigo Tacla Duran to participate in a session of the Administration and Public Service Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The decision was prompted by a commission request to ensure Duran is heard by MPs on June 19.

He will have to clarify the allegations he made about alleged extortion during the investigations of Operation Lava Jato, reported Agência Brasil. The lawyer lives in Spain and responds to a case for money laundering, in which he is accused of operating accounts abroad created by the extinct Odebrecht for the payment of bribes.

By Toffoli’s decision, Tacla Duran is authorized to enter Brazil and proceed to the Chamber on the day he will be heard. The Federal Police must guarantee the free transit of the lawyer to get to Brasilia. In March, during a hearing with Judge Eduardo Appio, the new Lava Jato magistrate, the lawyer said that he was the target of persecution for not accepting being extorted during the process in which he is a defendant.

Duran said that he was approached by a person who acted as a campaign handler for the then Senate candidate Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) and a lawyer linked to his wife, Rosangela Moro (União Brasil-SP), who allegedly offered a plea agreement during the investigations. From the mentions, Appio decided to send the case to the Supreme, the court responsible for analyzing issues involving parliamentarians with privileged jurisdiction. After the episode, Moro said he is not afraid of any investigation, and recalled that Duran was arrested by Lava Jato.