Zanin tells Moro that he will only declare suspicion in Lava Jato actions after analysis

Brasilia DF) – The expected interaction between Cristiano Zanin, nominated by Lula (PT) to the STF (Federal Supreme Court), and Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) in the Senate’s sabbatine this Wednesday (21) revolved around the possibility of the lawyer judging Operation Lava Jato cases and it went smoothly.

The lawyer said he will analyze case by case before declaring himself impeded or suspect.

“In the recent past, almost everything that worked in specialized criminal courts often received the Lava Jato label. This is not for me a criterion for legal control, but what the law provides for, which is to analyze the parts and content”,

stated.

“Once a hypothesis of impediment and suspicion is identified, I will not have the slightest problem in declaring the impediment or suspicion and not participating in the trial.”

Zanin and Moro have been at odds since the lawyer defended Lula in Lava Jato, of which Moro was a judge.

During his career as Lula’s lawyer, Zanin became known for questioning the impartiality of the judges who tried cases against the president, often pointing out what he considered to be suspicious relationships.

Lula had convictions annulled because the Supreme Court considered former judge Sergio Moro partial, based on an appeal filed by Zanin.

On the sabbath, Moro told Zanin that he would ask tough questions, but that these were not personal issues. He asked, for example, that he detail his relationship with President Lula and whether he was, in fact, best man at the PT’s wedding to Janja.

“[A proximidade] does it go beyond the relationship as a private lawyer?”, he asked. Moro also questioned whether he acted in the review of JBS’s leniency agreement as a lawyer and if, in this case, he would be prevented from judging the review of the agreement of companies in Operation Lava Jato.

Zanin stated that he was not Lula’s best man at his wedding, but that he values ​​the relationship he has built over the last few years with the president. He pointed out, however, that he was only personally with the PT member this year when he was appointed to the Supreme Court, in a place where other Lula assistants were.

“My relationship has these contours. I will never deny it. On the contrary, I am grateful to President Lula for having nominated my name to the Federal Supreme Court”,

he said.

According to the law, a magistrate is prevented from judging cases in which he, his spouse or a relative have acted – he is a partner of his wife, Valeska Teixeira, in her office. On Saturday, he said he will declare himself barred in these cases, in accordance with the law.

The question of suspicion is more subjective. The judge must declare himself a suspect if, for example, he is a close friend or a cardinal enemy of one of the parties.

Moro also wanted to know how the nominee will manifest himself regarding the decriminalization of drugs for personal consumption and the State-owned Law.

Zanin is a personal friend of Lula and has advocated for him in Lava Jato cases, but he also has a history of acting as a legal representative of large companies and other politicians.

Proximity to the president raised criticism of the nomination among opponents and in circles in the legal world, but the lawyer has the approval of STF ministers and a large number of politicians.

Over the past week, Lula’s nominee toured the Senate offices to approach parliamentarians and garner support even among evangelicals and opponents of the current government.

On the 15th, Senator Veneziano Vital do Rego (MDB-PB) read his report on Zanin’s nomination, and stated that the lawyer meets the prerequisites to occupy the vacancy.

Veneziano highlighted the published articles and his 25-year career as a corporate, international, communication and electoral lawyer, in addition to “building and maintaining our constitutional jurisprudence, through the subscription of various Constitutional Claims, in order to ensure the authority of Supreme Court decisions”.

*With information from Folha

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