The Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region rejected this Monday (18), in a unanimous decision, the complaint against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and his brother, Frei Chico, accused by the São Paulo Car Wash task force of receiving a package of bribes from Odebrecht.
The first judge, Ali Mazloum, had already determined that there was not enough evidence to justify opening a criminal action - and this Monday, the federal judges of the 5th Panel of the court rejected the appeal presented by the task force.
In a note, Lula's lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, classified the decision as "pedagogical." "It is another victory for Lula in Justice that shows the need to be tried on habeas corpus that points to the suspicion of ex-judge Sergio Moro and declaration of nullity of all the processes that he has acted against Lula ".
The complaint states that the brother, known as Frei Chico, received an allowance from Odebrecht from 2003 to 2015 within a package of undue advantages offered to the Worker's Party. According to the prosecution, the total amount reached R$ 1.1 million, divided into transfers from R$ 3,000 to R$ 5,000 over the period.
Frei Chico, 77, is considered responsible for introducing Lula into the union movement in ABC São Paulo.
On May 6, the fourth regional court had rejected resources sent by the PT's defense, and kept his sentence to 17 years and a month in prison in the case of the Atibaia site (SP).
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon