A decision by the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) to suspend the breach of banking and tax secrecy of a friend led the defense of the president’s son (PT) to seek the extension of the same benefit and provoked new criticism regarding the Judiciary’s interference in Legislative prerogatives.
Dino overturned this Wednesday (4), on a preliminary (provisional) basis, the measure that had been approved by the mixed CPI against , close to Fábio Luis Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha. Hours later, the defense of the president’s own son took advantage of the decision to also seek to suspend the breach of his confidentiality.
The leadership of the INSS CPI reacted to Dino’s order, saying there was an “affront to Parliament” and announced their intention to appeal.
“What is being put here is absurd. How come there was no debate for approval [das quebras]? Congress votes on decisions en bloc. Therefore, Minister Flávio Dino’s position is strange to say the least, but we will respect it because the STF’s decision must be complied with,” he said.
the president of the CPI, .
He also criticized the monocratic decision-making model (by just one minister) in the STF. Viana highlighted that there is already a project approved in the Senate and that it is stalled in the Chamber on the topic.
The CPI rapporteur, federal deputy Alfredo Gaspar (União Brasil-AL), said that Dino’s decision is a “terrible example for democracy”.
“We are making great progress in search of the truth and we will not admit the interference of a power in the House. It is not possible for a legitimate vote recognized by President Davi Alcolumbre to be disregarded in a decision by a STF minister.”
Last week, the STF minister had already suspended another breach of confidentiality approved in Congress — in this case, from a company linked to minister Dias Toffoli, then decided by the Organized Crime CPI and related to the .
In his decision, Dino states that the commission approved 87 requests at once, in a “global” vote, without presenting individual reasons for each measure — including breaches of confidentiality, summonses and requests to Coaf (Financial Activities Control Council).
According to the minister, “it is not appropriate to remove constitutional rights wholesale” and, although the CPI has powers equivalent to those of judicial authorities, it must also fulfill the duties of judicial authorities.
The measure immediately suspends the effects of the CPI decision and prevents the sharing of data if it has already been sent to the Senate or other bodies.
In the extension request sent to Dino, Lulinha’s defense argued that the requirements in the INSS CPI were all approved together, which would be illegal.
“The grounds for the concession are all applicable to Fábio Luís, who also had his confidentiality broken by the ‘global’ vote, without concrete, specific and individualized grounds, which is required in any invasive investigative measure”, says Guilherme Suguimori, Lulinha’s lawyer.
The defender also states, in a note, that collaborating with the investigation does not mean accepting illegal measures in the political environment, marked by media exposure and in the pre-election period.
“Fábio will continue to proactively collaborate with the investigation conducted by the Federal Supreme Court, including voluntarily providing bank and tax documents in the records of the appropriate procedure, under the supervision of the Judiciary and the guarantee of due legal process.”
Initially, the assessment among lawyers was that the minister’s decision, as he understood that there was illegality in the breach of confidentiality of someone involved due to the way in which the CPI session took place, could lead to the suspension of all requests at the same time.
By the end of the afternoon, at least five requests had already been presented after Dino’s decision. According to three of them, as the first request questioned the CPI’s act and Dino’s decision talks about suspending “the contested act”, the understanding was that the entire block of requests had been suspended.
According to the STF minister’s injunction, the CPI will be able to re-analyze the requests, as long as it presents “concrete motivation”, debate and individual voting. Dino sent the decision to a referendum in the STF plenary and notified the CPI leadership, in addition to Coaf, the Federal Revenue Service.
