Who is Judge Eduardo Appio, removed from Lava Jato – 05/23/2023 – Power

Judge Eduardo Appio, 52, responsible for the remaining cases of Operation Lava Jato in Paraná, was temporarily removed from office by the TRF-4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region) this Monday (22).

According to a report obtained by the CNN Brasil network, the regional court is investigating whether Appio called the son of the former Lava Jato rapporteur at TRF-4 pretending to be a Federal Justice employee. The magistrate will have a period of 15 days from the decision to present the prior defense.

Appio assumed ownership of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba in February. Since then, he has issued decisions that have generated repercussions. He is openly critical of the methods previously used by Lava Jato.

The report sought Eduardo Appio to comment on the TRF-4 order on Monday night, but did not receive a response.

Know who he is and understand the judge’s recent decisions.

1) Critic of Lava Jato

Appio has more than 20 years of experience in the Federal Court, in addition to being a prosecutor. He was chosen to take over the Federal Court based on seniority among magistrates who signed up.

In his academic life, he was mentored in his master’s degree by retired attorney and attorney Lênio Streck, one of Lava Jato’s most bitter opponents.

The magistrate defines himself as a guarantor. In recent years, he participated in a program of debates on legal topics, by journalist Luís Nassif on YouTube, in which the operation was one of the main targets.

He classified the work of former judge Sergio Moro and former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol as “comedy” and “punitivist empire”. In one of the editions, last year, he debated with lawyer Cristiano Zanin, Lula’s lawyer. He said he was “a huge fan” of the defender’s work.

2) Suspension by TRF-4

The TRF-4 investigates whether Appio called the son of former rapporteur Marcelo Malucelli. The magistrate left the Lava Jato cases in April after being criticized for the relationship between his son, lawyer João Eduardo Barreto Malucelli, and now Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR).

João Eduardo is a partner of Senator and Federal Deputy Rosangela Moro (União Brasil-SP) at the law firm Wolff Moro Sociedade de Advocacia. He would also be dating the couple’s daughter.

In the recorded phone call, in April, the caller tries to confirm João Eduardo’s bond with Marcelo. He also asks: “Are you sure you haven’t been up to anything?”, Which was interpreted as a possible threat.

The content of the votes and the grounds for the removal have not yet been disclosed by the court. The decision took place by majority, with divergence of four of the magistrates.

The regional court, which serves as the second instance of Federal Justice in Paraná, also ordered the return of computers and cell phones used by the judge. The case will also be reported to the National Justice Department.

3) Cabral and Palocci

In early May, Appio had annulled the 2017 sentence against former Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral handed down by then judge Moro. The decision was reversed by Judge Carlos Eduardo Thompson Flores, of the second instance of the TRF-4. According to him, Appio did not respond to questions about his impartiality.

The magistrate had agreed with the request of Cabral’s defense to consider Moro’s performance in the process partial based on the messages exchanged in the Telegram application with former prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol.

The TRF-4 also overturned two decisions by Appio that met requests from the defense of former minister Antonio Palocci. The judge had scheduled a hearing for Palocci to point out possible “excesses and errors” by Lava Jato and released R$35 million from an account linked to the politician.

4) Imprisonment of Alberto Youssef

In March, Appio ordered the arrest of money changer Alberto Youssef, one of the pivots of Lava Jato, and provoked a sequence of court decisions.

The lower court judge stated in the decision that the collaboration agreement signed by the money changer in the operation in 2014 did not cover Federal Revenue procedures regarding possible tax crimes attributed to the defendant.

The order, however, was reversed the following day by the magistrate of the second instance Marcelo Malucelli, who issued an order stating that the Code of Criminal Procedure establishes that preventive detention can only “be decreed by the judge, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the plaintiff or of the assistant, or by representation of the police authority”.

Appio gave another decision, stating that the Federal Police agents’ trip to the money changer’s house in Itapoá (SC) revealed signs of property evasion.

Malucelli countered and stated that there was no document change that would justify the judge’s change of understanding after his decision. Finally, Appio issued the release permit to the money changer.

5) Audience with Tacla Duran

At the end of March, Appio was also questioned by the Federal Public Ministry of Paraná about a hearing with lawyer Rodrigo Tacla Duran scheduled after a decision by the STF (Supreme Federal Court) that ordered the suspension of criminal proceedings against the defendant, accused of money laundering.

In Appio’s justification, the hearing would serve to adjust the precautionary measures that replaced the preventive detention, revoked by the magistrate.

6) LUL22

In early March, prosecutor Carolina Bonfadini de Sá asked Appio to declare himself a suspect to act in Lava Jato because, according to her, he had expressed political and ideological opinions about the operation, among other reasons.

In the document, she stated that Appio kept the “LUL22” signature in the Federal Justice procedural system until this year, in a reference to President Lula (PT).

In an interview with GloboNews, the magistrate confirmed that he used the login “LUL22”. Appio said it was an “isolated and individual protest” against an arrest he considered illegal.