RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Senate Constitutional and Judiciary Committee (CCJ) has approved the reappointment of Augusto Aras as Federal Prosecutor General (PGR) for another two-year term. The vote was 21 to 6.
Aras was questioned by senators for about six hours. The current PGR’s name was supported by both ruling and opposition senators.
He needs at least 41 votes in the full Senate (out of 81) for his appointment to be ratified.
During the session, which took place in a mild atmosphere, he defended his administration and denied he favored President Jair Bolsonaro.
Aras also criticized the Lava-Jato operation and defended the changes made to the operation of the task forces, which caused controversy within the Prosecutors General’s Office. “The Lava-Jato operations gained a lot of notoriety and performed well.”
He said he wanted to be remembered as the one who “did not criminalize politics” and reinstated due process. Still, Aras sharply criticized the political polarization that has gripped the country.
“I want to be remembered as the prosecutor general who restored constitutional procedures, who did not criminalize politics, who was strong when it came to taking bitter measures, but not as the one who will obstruct politics and religions,” he said.
Aras stated that “institutions are functioning normally,” but that does not mean we are not experiencing polarization, which is extremely harmful to democracy.
He also dismissed his alleged subservience to Bolsonaro’s controversial actions, enumerating several measures he has taken against the president or contradicting the government’s position.
“I believe that the effectiveness of the PGR should not be measured by spectacular police operations, but I have based my actions on discretion,” he said. “Hasty accusations without evidence bring the Brazilian legal and penal system into disrepute,” he argued.
He also cited the cases of convictions overturned after the Lava-Jato breakthrough, without naming former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“Every senator, every minister, every prosecutor is a citizen, and we must guarantee every citizen their fundamental rights and guarantees, so that convictions are not so irresponsible that someone who is supposedly innocent sits in prison for years, only to be absolved of any responsibility at a later date,” he said.