Report Claims Leaked Audios Show Illegal Actions Against Lula by Sérgio Moro

BY Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a series of reports by “The Intercept Brasil”, leaked audio files show how the “Lava Jato” (“car wash”) task force acted to block the electoral victory of Fernando Haddad and advance Lula’s imprisonment, using evidence considered inconsistent by the accusers themselves.

A series of three reports published this Sunday, June 9th, by The Intercept, reveals conversations between prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol the former federal judge and current Justice Minister Sérgio Moro, that purport to show the two acted in concert to impede the election of Fernando Haddad, advance Lula’s imprisonment, and even present evidence considered to be inconsistent.

Material obtained exclusively by The Intercept indicates that the Lava Jato task force had political motivations in Lula’s case; the report claims multiple examples of abuse of prosecutorial powers by those who led the country’s sweeping Operation Car Wash corruption probe since 2014.

The audios are alleged to reveal an institutional collaboration between then-judge Sérgio Moro and chief prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol.

According to The Intercept, the reports make clear that the prosecutors were not acting in a nonpartisan and apolitical manner, but rather on ideological convictions, concerned about the return of the PT to power. The series also allegedly shows that Moro sought to influence the timing of separate phases of Lava Jato, to make Lula’s sentencing more likely.

Another key point, according to The Intercept, is that the task force itself did not believe all the accusations made against the ex-president, setting off legal/political maneuvers.

Former president Lula was sentenced to 12 years and one month in prison upon conviction of corruption charges; the sentence was later reduced to eight years and ten months.

A statement from Lula’s defense lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, published Sunday on the former president’s Workers’ Party website, said the prosecution was “corrupted”.

“The restoration of Lula’s full freedom is urgent,” the statement read, saying that he has not committed any crime and that he is a victim of “lawfare”.

Sérgio Moro lamented on Sunday what he called the “criminal invasion” of the phones of several prosecutors involved in a sprawling anti-graft probe that has put dozens of top politicians and businessmen behind bars.

Glenn Greenwald, co-founder and editor of The Intercept Brasil, says on Twitter that #VazaJato (revelations about Lava Jato) just started and that there would be “more to come”.