In the decision, the minister understood that the former governor of the Federal District must be treated as being investigated, which guarantees the constitutional right not to produce evidence against himself.
The minister André Mendonçaof the Federal Supreme Court (STF), released this Thursday (2) the former governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rochayes obligation to attend the Organized Crime CPI in the Senate.
In the decision, Mendonça understood that Ibaneis should be treated as investigatedwhich guarantees the constitutional right not to produce evidence against oneself. With this, the minister removed the mandatory attendance and made the summons optional.
According to the document, the first line investigates the commercial relations of the law firm founded by Ibaneis with entities investigated in the operations Zero Compliance and Hidden Carbon, conducted by the Federal Police. The second involves his institutional role as head of the district Executive, especially in the strategic decisions of Banco de Brasília (BRB), including operations with Banco Master, which are at the center of the investigations.
The rapporteur cited STF precedents that prohibit the coercive conduct of those under investigation and ensure the right to choose whether or not to appear for testimony at CPIs.
If he decides to attend, the governor will have the right to silence, the presence of a lawyer and will not be obliged to make a commitment to tell the truth, in addition to not being able to suffer embarrassment.
In the case of Cláudio Castro, Alessandro Vieira stated that the testimony seeks to offer an overview of the activities of organized crime in Rio de Janeiro, including the integration between drug trafficking factions and militias, a phenomenon that he classified as “narcomilicia”, and the institutional challenges in combating money laundering.
The decision comes after the commission approved, last Tuesday (31), the summoning of Ibaneis and the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, to give testimony.
Author of the request, Senator Alessandro Vieira stated that Ibaneis’ testimony is considered essential to clarify possible commercial relations between the law firm founded by the governor and entities investigated by the Federal Police, in addition to decisions by the Federal District government involving negotiations between Banco de Brasília (BRB) and Banco Master.
According to the parliamentarian, there is evidence that the office maintained million-dollar contracts with entities linked to the Reag Investimentos Group and Banco Masterin addition to having received financial transfers considered atypical from the J&F Group. Vieira also points out that, at the head of the local Executive, Ibaneis would have acted to approve the acquisition of Banco Master by BRB, an operation that involved around R$12.2 billion in credits under questioning.
