President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday (10) that he is satisfied with the decisions taken by Edson Fachin, the president of the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), Brazil's highest court, to contain the crisis among its justices. He spoke in an interview with the broadcaster SBT, in a presidential election year.
In the president's assessment, Fachin acted correctly but has not finished the job. "Fachin took the right step, he has not finished taking the necessary steps. I hope he does more to put the house in order and restore the credibility the Brazilian people have always had in the Supreme Court," Lula said, according to news site g1. Folha de S.Paulo transcribed the same passage differently, recording that the president said Fachin had put "a bit of order in the house".
On those responsible for the crisis, Lula named Justices Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça, and Fachin himself.
"If Alexandre de Moraes is guilty, he must pay. If Mendonça is guilty, he must pay. If Fachin is guilty, he must pay. Everyone must be at the disposal of our Constitution. The law above all, and let the truth be sovereign."
What Fachin decided
On Wednesday (9), Fachin suspended Mendonça's order removing Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues and intelligence director Leandro Almada from their posts. He also suspended the ruling by Justice Flávio Dino that had reinstated the two the same day, leaving both directors in office. Fachin further took over the report of the so-called Fake News inquiry, suspended every investigation procedure against members of the court, and halted a review by the Prosecutor General's office (PGR) into alleged interference in the production of the Federal Police report.
The crisis began with investigations into Banco Master, a bank controlled by financier Daniel Vorcaro, and now involves Justices Mendonça and Moraes, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet and the Federal Police leadership. In the interview, Lula again called for the secrecy on the Master case files to be lifted and reiterated his confidence in Rodrigues, whom he appointed to the post. "Andrei is a very competent professional, with more than 30 years of career," the president said, while backing an investigation if irregularities are found, as Folha reported.
What comes next
Fachin has called a full court session for Tuesday (15), when the justices will discuss the Federal Police report that pointed to a supposed relationship between Moraes and Vorcaro. Lula said the work at the court is not done: "There is still more to do: we still have to find out who is really guilty".