After The Intercept released messages between Curitiba task force prosecutors and Lava Jato judge Sergio Moro, the defense team of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched an internal campaign to cross-reference the messages with the court measures and decisions that involving PT and the ex-President.
After they conclude this analysis, the lawyers will draw up a new legal strategy. They hope to nullify the case based on the suspicion of Moro.
The Intercept publication released chunks of the Lava Jato task force group's Telegram discussions from 2015 to 2018. The site says it obtained the material from an anonymous source, who requested confidentiality.
In the messages, prosecutors and Moro, who until November was the judge responsible for Lava Jato, talk about decisions related to the case of the former president of the Republic.
By law, the magistrate must remain impartial to the defense and prosecution. Lula's defense team accuses Moro of taking sides against his client.
Cristiano Zanin and his team are verifying dates and the content of the conversations and comparing them with the behavior of the Public Ministry and Justice in the following cases. After they conclude this analysis, the lawyers will draw up a new legal strategy. They hope to nullify the case based on their suspicions of Moro.
Lula was sentenced by Sergio Moro, now justice minister of the Bolsonaro administration, to 9 years and a half in prison for crimes of passive corruption and money laundering in the case of the triplex apartment in Guarujá (SP). The defense appealed, and federal judges increased the penalty to 12 years and one month.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon