Senators are trying to move forward in the coming days with measures to contain the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The articulation occurs shortly after the Organized Crime CPI defeated the report by senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), which called for the indictment of ministers Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli and Gilmar Mendes, from the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet.
The articulations are led mainly by opposition senators, who supported Vieira’s report. The idea is to reinforce, with legislative changes, the CPI instruments and change rules that remove the Supreme Court’s influence on parliamentary commissions of inquiry.
The president of the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), for example, appointed senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) to report a Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that requires the attendance of all those investigated and witnesses to appear at the CPI.
Recent decisions by the Supreme Court exempt a series of summonses from the CPI of Crime and the INSS from appearing before the collegiate bodies. One of the cases happened to Toffoli’s brothers, who were released from participating in the Crime CPI.
The text was authored by senator Sergio Moro (PL-PR) and says that “the right to silence does not authorize the person summoned not to appear before the parliamentary commission of inquiry” and anyone who does not appear will be subject to coercive conduct.
“This PEC, which is authored by Senator Sergio Moro, was distributed for me to report and I will write the report in favor. The CPIs are being dismantled due to the fact that whoever is summoned is not obliged either to appear or to speak. This is the conspiracy against the CPI, we will face it”, said Amin, who is expected to present his opinion next week: “This is a real thing and combats a falsehood that is being practiced. Why not collect information on this CPI (on Crime)? people are exempt from attending and speaking”, added the senator.
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Vieira’s report on the CPI on Crime was defeated by six votes against and four in favor. Amin was one of the votes in favor and one of the main senators to criticize the STF.
After the report was released, ministers Gilmar Mendes and Dias Toffoli signaled that Alessandro Vieira committed an abuse of authority and should be ineligible.
Gilmar Mendes also asked the Attorney General’s Office for the senator to be investigated for abuse of authority. In response, the rapporteur said that magistrates “are not owners of the country” and that he will not bow to “threats” of punishment.
In the final stretch, government supporters promoted the replacement of two opposition senators in an offensive to prevent the vote on the text or defeat it in the last session of the commission.
Sergio Moro and Marcos do Val (Avante-ES) left the panel, both members of the Democracy Parliamentary Bloc (MDB, PSDB, Podemos and União Brasil) and in favor of the opinion. In their places, Beto Faro (PT-PA) and Teresa Leitão (PT-PE) entered, aligned with the government.
Even among those who were against Vieira’s report, there are those who agree that the Supreme Court needs to be self-critical regarding the exacerbation of the Court’s powers. The president of the CPI, Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), was one of those who took a stand against the opinion, but preached the STF’s self-criticism.
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Eduardo Braga, who is leader of the MDB in the Senate, also declared that he will present a PEC to contain the STF. The idea is to create a code of conduct that all public authorities will need to follow.
“Democracies die due to lack of information, use of fake news and disrespect for institutions. Institutions need to be respected”, declared Braga.
The president of the STF, Edson Fachin, even suggested that the Supreme Court create a code, but the idea has not progressed and found support from other members of the Court. The MDB leader’s PEC in this regard is still in its early stages and should be filed next week.
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Alessandro Vieira declared that he “will still evaluate” the development of more legislative measures in reaction to the STF. He also praised the PEC of Braga.
“I think it’s a good initiative.”
Vieira’s report at the Crime CPI had as its axis the Banco Master case and called for the indictment of STF ministers Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli and Gilmar Mendes, in addition to the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, for crimes of responsibility.
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The text pointed out suspicion, breach of decorum and interference in CPI investigations by ministers, in addition to attributing to the STF an environment of “intense judicialization”, with decisions that suspended proceedings, limited access to data and withheld testimonies.
The Banco Master case was treated as a common thread and as an example of the connection between financial crime and criminal organizations. Despite this, the opinion did not include requests for indictment of operators directly linked to the scheme.
