The president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), Luiz Edson Fachin, has told President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that he intends to move forward with the accusations exchanged between justices in recent days and take the cases involving Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça to the court's full bench. The conversation took place on Friday (Sept 4) at the presidential palace, the Planalto, according to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

Fachin, who heads the Brazilian judiciary, expressed dissatisfaction with the means his colleagues chose to pursue their measures, Folha reported. He told Lula and others present that the matters are very serious and must be handled with due care. He said he does not intend to leave any of the issues filed with him unexamined, and that he will take whatever time is needed.

The meeting at the Planalto

Besides Fachin and Lula, those at the meeting included Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet, the president of the Superior Court of Justice, Luis Felipe Salomão, Justice and Public Security Minister Wellington Lima e Silva, and Solicitor General Jorge Messias. The group met before a ceremony to sign bills related to the judiciary.

A source briefed on the dialogue told Folha the initial mood between Fachin and Gonet was tense. The prosecutor general has already asked for the annulment of the Federal Police report that included Moraes' name in the Banco Master case, while Fachin has said he still needs information on the circumstances and the data gathered. The crisis began on Tuesday (Sept 1), when Mendonça ordered the release of previously sealed Federal Police reports citing Moraes, Gonet and the force's director general, Andrei Rodrigues. Days later, Moraes asked Fachin to open an investigation into his colleague's conduct.

Speeches at the ceremony

At the ceremony, Fachin said, without naming anyone, that the response to the crisis will be "firm, proportionate and rigorous", according to news site Poder360. "Recent events demonstrate the correctness and urgency of three goals of our administration: adopting a code of ethics, ending the fake news inquiry and modernizing the justice system," he said. Lula also spoke. Without mentioning Moraes, he criticized those who use public office for personal benefit and said: "I am certain that next year we will hold a deep discussion of the judiciary so that the people can keep believing in Justice."

The full bench is the next step. The STF's 11 justices would decide the cases together in a plenary session. Fachin has shown he is willing to clarify the conduct at issue and schedule the final debate on the crisis, Folha reported. No date has been set. In the private conversation, Lula argued that answers must be given and leave no doubts in society.