Report: Rubens Valente – Analysis of cases derived from Covid CPI enters final phase in PGR

The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) should decide in April the fate of most of the Covid CPI-derived investigations being processed at the STF (Supreme Federal Court). In at least seven of the ten cases, President Jair Bolsonaro and his deputies represented by the AGU (Advocacia Geral da União) presented a defense in advance. With that, the ball went to PGR, which should finally explain whether the commission intends to denounce or file the charges made in its final report.

In some cases, ministers did not specify a deadline for the manifestation of the PGR, but in others it was 15 days. This should be the deadline considered for all manifestations.

The column found that the PGR was operating with the understanding that the CPI was already an investigation in itself – parliamentary – and therefore should not ask the STF to open a new police investigation or new investigations or steps into the Federal Police. The PGR followed the logic of a police investigation, arguing that the defenses were showing themselves before deciding on a denunciation, filing, or other action.

Bolsonaro and all the other public officials accused by the CPI, such as former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello and federal lawmaker Ricardo Barros, presented their defenses through the AGU (Advocacia Geral da União) in most cases throughout March. .

It will now suffice for PGR to say whether it understands that the STF needs to file a criminal case for each of the cases, whether to file a piece with another pending case, or simply does not consider a crime. Contrary to what has been pointed out by CPI senators.

If the PGR understands the complaint, the STF must decide whether to admit it, which will make the accused a defendant in a criminal proceeding with contradictory and full defense until final decision. Traditionally, for the past few years, the STF has generally followed PGR’s requests for shelving, but two weeks ago, Minister Rosa Weber denied any such manifestation in another Bolsonaro-related case, which could signal a change in Bolsonaro’s behavior. Supreme Court.. In this case, new points of friction may arise between the STF and the PGR around petitions derived from the CPI.

The CPI ran in the Senate last year and eventually brought Bolsonaro and his aides on various charges, including epidemic crimes, charlatanism and abuse of power. On October 27, CPI senators handed the final report to Attorney General Augusto Aras. On November 9, they presented a collection of documents.

Since then, PGR has petitioned the STF ten times, resulting in ten lawsuits derived from the CPI. They are processed as “petitions” (nº 10056 to nº 10065).

Each petition was distributed to one minister: Rosa Weber (four), Dias Toffoli (two), Ricardo Lewandowski (one), Nunes Marques (one), and Luís Barroso (one), who received the most petitions for prevention. Only two of the ten cases, responsible for ministers Barroso and Cármen Lúcia, remain confidential despite PGR’s request to have it repealed.

In seven of the eight civil cases, the defense has already been presented by the AGU. In summary, AGU claimed atypical behavior, fragility of evidence, lack of justification for initiating criminal action, and also said that the CPI report was a “political indictment”.

After receiving the defense’s statements, ministers throughout March sent the petitions back to the PGR for analysis. From March 9 to date, seven cases have been referred to the PGR. It is not possible to know the course of the two cases that remained secret.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), vice-president of Covid, at the defunct CPI, said he had “no expectation of the role of PGR” as a result of the petitions.

“Not much is expected of Augusto Aras. My expectation is that STF ministers will take cases to action. I hope there are still judges in Brasília. Except for Minister Nunes Marques. [dos que estão responsáveis pelas petições]I have hope in ministers,” Randolfe said.

The Senator said he doubts Aras will show himself to shelve some petitions derived from the Covid CPI. “I think it’s a bit too much even for him to want cases as serious as those investigated by the CPI to be shelved. [Aras]. “But even if he asks for filing, which is a reasonable assumption, I think the Supreme Ministers will instruct the process to move forward,” he said.