RIO DE JANEIRO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Former Brazilian federal judge and current Minister of Justice Sergio Moro constantly aided the prosecution in the trials of anti-corruption taskforce Carwash Operation cases, a Brazilian news site reported Friday.
According to "The Intercept Brazil," in several occasions -- thus not only in his most famous case, the conviction of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- Moro directed the prosecution's work in cases he would later act as judge, which qualifies as a breakage of the principle of the judge's impartiality.
According to the site, Moro, instead of keeping his neutrality to judge the cases of the operation, ordered the prosecution around, telling them not to take testimonies from certain politicians, most notably former head of the House of Representatives Eduardo Cunha.
He also alerted the prosecution when he considered their reports weak or missing any piece of evidence and effectively helped them build stronger cases, and altered the schedule of Federal Police operations.
In another occasion, Moro colluded to hide evidence from a Supreme Court judge who was analyzing whether a case should stay in his court or be sent to a higher court due to the involvement of congressmen, according to the site.
The conversation suggests that Moro knew congressmen were involved, which would lead to the case being sent out of his jurisdiction, and advised the Federal Police not to include the evidence in the case documents.
The Intercept Brazil said the findings are conclusive to sustain that the rights of the defendants in the cases Moro has judged have been breached and the findings could lead to the annulment of rulings made by the former judge.
Moro's most relevant conviction was that of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom he sentenced to nine years in prison for corruption and money laundering in 2018.
However, previously-leaked conversations indicate inconsistencies in the case, such as the fact that the man who denounced Lula changed his version of the testimony several times, only having his testimony accepted for a leniency deal when he changed his story to accuse the former president directly.
