The last instance of the Italian Court denied the extradition of the former deputy (-SP) to Brazil because it understood that her case was not judged impartially in the (Supreme Federal Court).
In a sentence communicated this Thursday (11), the court stated that it saw the dual role of the minister and the STF as problematic, in the case in which Zambelli ended up being sentenced to ten years in prison by the (National Council of Justice) and for issuing a false arrest warrant against Moraes himself.
In the document, to which the Sheet had access, the judges write that, when analyzing the defense’s appeal and the content of the acts presented by Brazil, “multiple elements emerged that lead us to doubt the impartiality of the court that handed down the appellant’s conviction [Zambelli]”.
“This is due to the dual role assumed by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, as a member of the judging panel and as a person harmed by one of the crimes attributed to the appellant, in addition to the accumulation of judicial functions carried out by him in the Brazilian criminal process”, says the court.
The judges describe that Moraes was appointed rapporteur of the case at the STF and participated in decisions, including those that led to the conviction and the determination of Zambelli’s loss of parliamentary mandate.
“In addition, the same judge issued the arrest warrant, wrote the extradition request and provided information on the merits of the penitentiary institute where the appellant should be held,” says the ruling, which is 16 pages long.
In the court’s assessment, the modality in which the criminal proceedings took place meant a “macroscopic violation of the right to defense”. Brazil, the judges say, did not provide concrete evidence to demonstrate the fairness of the process.
The first extradition request made by Brazil was analyzed by the Court of Cassation in a hearing on May 22. On the same day, the court decided to deny extradition, accepting the defense’s appeal and annulling the lower court’s sentence. Zambelli, who had been imprisoned for almost ten months in Rome, was released on the same day. The explanations for this decision were only known now, with the publication of the sentence.
With that, this first order was closed. He will not go to the Italian government —this would only happen if the extradition had been confirmed—, and there is no possibility for Brazil to appeal.
Zambelli is the target of a second extradition request, referring to a five-year sentence for illegal restraint, in the episode in which he chased a man armed in São Paulo.
The Rome Court of Appeal authorized the extradition in April, the defense also appealed and the case will be judged by the Court of Cassation on July 1.
Given the arguments now presented by the Court of Cassation, centered on the STF’s lack of impartiality and Alexandre de Moraes’ accumulation of functions, there is the possibility that there could be a different understanding that could lead to Zambelli’s extradition. In the case of the chase with a weapon, in addition to the fact that the victim of the crime was someone else — and not Moraes —, the rapporteur of the case was the minister.
