Alexandre de Moraes, a justice on Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), on Tuesday ordered the shelving of an investigation into three former directors of the Federal Highway Police (PRF) accused of trying to hinder or prevent voters from reaching the polls in the 2022 presidential runoff. The ruling followed a recommendation by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR), Brazil's federal prosecutors, which found no grounds to keep the case against the three open.

The decision benefits Djairlon Henrique Moura, former director of Operations; Luis Carlos Reischak Junior, former director of Intelligence and former PRF superintendent in the state of Rio Grande do Sul; and Rodrigo Cardozo Hoppe, former deputy director of Intelligence. According to G1, Globo's news portal, Moraes said that, given the PGR's position, the case must be closed.

How the case began

The investigation grew out of roadside inspections the PRF ran on October 30, 2022, the day of the runoff between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro. The checks concentrated in the Northeast, the region where Lula led the polls. A report obtained at the time by journalist Andréia Sadi's blog at G1 shows the force inspected 2,185 buses in the Northeast against 571 in the Southeast between October 28 and 30.

On the eve of the vote, then PRF director-general Silvinei Vasques had publicly said he would vote for Bolsonaro. On election day, Moraes ordered the immediate suspension of the inspections under threat of arresting the director-general. The order was disobeyed, report G1 and the news site Imprensa 24h.

In January 2025 the Federal Police formally named five people as suspects in the inquiry, including the three former directors. The police pointed to indications of the crimes of disobedience, dereliction of duty, restriction of the right to vote and participation, by omission, in an attempt to abolish Brazil's democratic rule of law. A police indictment is an investigative step and does not amount to a conviction.

What the shelving means

Shelving the case ends the criminal investigation without charges being filed and without any ruling on the merits. It followed the PGR's finding that the evidence against the former officials was insufficient, and it is not a verdict of guilt or innocence. Under Brazilian procedural law, the inquiry can be reopened if new evidence emerges. No further steps are scheduled in this line of the case, and G1 does not detail the status of the other two people named in the inquiry.