At his first press conference since his nomination for Minister of Justice, judge Sergio Moro described the president-elect Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) as a reasonable, prudent and sensible person, one that doesn't pose a threat to the rule of law or minorities.
"I see no risk to democracy and the rule of law," the magistrate said on Tuesday (6th). When confronted by Folha with some of Bolsonaro's controversial soundbites, he argued that those remarks belonged to the past and many times are "shown out of context". Also, in his opinion, Bolsonaro softened his words during the campaign.
He doesn't think there's any concrete evidence that either Brazilian democracy or minorities would suffer in the upcoming administration.
"What are the actual policies proposed by Bolsonaro that affect or hurt minorities? So far, none," he said. "Is there any policy that persecutes homosexuals? There's none. There's zero possibility of it happening."
Moro said that, as a judge, he "would never consent to any solution outside the law," but acknowledged that he would be a subordinate to the president, and the last word would always be Bolsonaro's.
The judge told the reporters that his main disagreement with the president-elect is Bolsonaro's proposal of classifying some nonprofits as terrorist groups.
But he agrees with Bolsonaro's plans to reform Brazilian gun law and to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 16 for heinous crimes.
About his decision to accept the role, Moro said that "it has nothing to do with [former president] Lula's lawsuit," whom he convicted for money laundering last year, and became Bolsonaro's primary opponent in the presidential campaign.
"I can't guide my life based on a fantasy, a fake idea of political persecution." According to him, Lula was "convicted and arrested because he committed a crime, not because of the elections."
Translated by NATASHA MADOV