The defense of former deputy Eduardo Cunha (PRD) appealed this Tuesday (12) against the decision of Minister Dias Toffoli, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), who denied the annulment of the convictions against him within the scope of the Operation Lava Jato investigations, last week.
The lawyer defending Cunha argues that the same suspicion against former judge Sergio Moro in the processes related to the operation should be extended to him, just as it occurred to other people convicted during the investigations.
“The collusion between the former judge and Prosecutors manipulated award-winning collaborations to target the aggravating party, pressuring, threatening and coercing collaborators to ‘hand over’ the aggravating party’s name”, he stated in the request.
Convicted in two cases by the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, Cunha was responsible, among other cases, for the so-called “Probes Case”. In this case, he was accused of receiving undue advantages in Petrobras contracts for the purchase of drill ships intended for oil exploration.
Another case, the “Benin Case”, involved similar accusations in Petrobras oil exploration contracts in the African country.
After the conviction, the Second Panel of the STF annulled these convictions and sent the cases to the Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro. The former parliamentarian’s defense sought a definitive closure of the actions, arguing that there was “collusion between Moro and the Lava Jato task force”, based on conversations revealed by Operation Spoofing.
According to the defense, this would compromise the validity of the evidence against Cunha, similar to other cases in which the STF has already ordered the actions to be blocked.
“In this way, these are issues outside the judgment whose extension of effects is sought, with there not being the necessary adherence to granting the request. I have to say that the claim made at this headquarters is not viable, without prejudice to the examination of the matter by ordinary courts”, wrote Toffoli.
He must now analyze the arguments and take the judgment to the Second Panel of the STF. He is part of the committee alongside ministers Edson Fachin, Gilmar Mendes, Nunes Marques and André Mendonça.
Toffoli has been annulling several convictions of those involved in the Operation Lava Jato investigations due to Moro’s suspicion, such as Lula’s whistleblower, businessman Léo Pinheiro, who presided over the construction company OAS; and Marcelo Odebrecht, former president of the construction company Odebrecht.
