The resumption of the trial of two actions, authored by PT and PL, against Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR), began at 2pm this Wednesday (3/4) with the vote of the electoral judge, José Rodrigo Sade. In his arguments at the Regional Electoral Court of Paraná (TRE-PR), Sade disagreed with the rapporteur of the cases, judge Luciano Carrasco Falavinha, and voted for the impeachment and ineligibility of Moro for 8 years.
Sade considered that Moro committed the illicit abuse of economic power by having access to voluminous resources from the presidential campaign for Podemos. By giving up running for office and running for the Senate for União Brasil, the judge considered that Moro enjoyed an imbalance in the election, which characterizes the illicit act. He considered that, due to the magnitude of the expenses, funded with public money, it is not possible to consider that Moro acted within the legality of the pre-campaign.
Thus, Sade disagreed with the rapporteur and the score of the trial is 1 to 1. “The existence of the abuse is clear. There was a breach of the equality of the claim, compromising its fairness. Therefore, abuse of economic power must be recognized. When money becomes louder, democracy is the loser”, said the judge.
In the Judicial Electoral Investigation Actions (Aijes), the PT and PL accuse Moro of abuse of economic power, misuse of media throughout the 2022 electoral campaign and slush fund.
If the TRE-PR judges consider the accusations to be valid, Moro’s ticket could be revoked and the senator could still be ineligible for eight years.
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Two days of trial
In the first trial session, which began on Monday (1/4), the rapporteur of the cases, Luciano Carrasco Falavinha, voted against the impeachment and ineligibility of the senator. This Wednesday (3/4), the second session began with the vote of judge José Rodrigo Sade, who dissented.
When starting to read the vote, Sabe considered that it was a “hard case” and, in simple language, compared: “Elections are like a competition, the most important of any democratic nation. As such, there are rules in place to allow as much equality as possible between competitors. It is common to compare elections with football. In the case analyzed today, the VAR was called. And we will check whether the standards were respected,” he said.
During the vote, Sade stated that he adhered to the evidence presented in the file. For him, the best way to vote impartially. In his analysis, the electoral judge stated that he will evaluate whether Moro’s campaign for the presidency of the Republic with Podemos had an impact on the result of his candidacy for the Senate in Paraná, already in União Brasil. If there was a benefit, this characterizes the abuse of economic power.
“The aforementioned disproportion concerns the spending limit set by the TSE for presidential or Senate elections. The ceiling for the presidency was R$88 million in the first round, while for the Senate in Paraná, R$4 million. Both values serving as a benchmark for the abuse of economic power,” he said.
Sade also analyzed that, if Moro campaigned for president, then for the Senate, he ended up having a greater amount of resources than a campaign for the Senate, which corresponds to 5% of that for president.
In total, TRE-PR has seven judges who will vote one by one with sessions reserved until April 8th. At the opening of this Wednesday’s session, the analysis began with the score of 1 x 0 against revocation and against ineligibility.
When José Sade completes the vote, it will be judge Claudia Cristina Cristofani’s turn. Next, judge Julio Jacob Júnior votes; judge Anderson Ricardo Fogaça; judge Guilherme Frederico Hernandes Denz; and the president of TRE-PR, Sigurd Roberto Bengtsson.
To be revoked or acquitted, Moro must have a score of at least 4 to 3. After the result, an appeal can still be made to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), regardless of the result.
Pre-campaign spending
In the actions, Sergio Moro is accused by the PT, of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and by the PL, of Jair Bolsonaro, of having campaigned early and having benefited from resources in an irregular manner.
The senator joined Podemos in 2021 to launch a candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic. Afterwards, he became a federal deputy for São Paulo. Close to the deadline for changing parties, in 2022, he joined União Brasil, the party that launched his candidacy for the Federal Senate, in Paraná.
In the actions, the PT and PL argue that the pre-campaign expenses allocated to Planalto would be “disproportionate” and “suppressed the chances of other competitors” for Casa Alta in Paraná. The two (Aijes) ask for the senator’s ticket to be revoked and his ineligibility for 8 years.
In the first vote of the trial, the rapporteur, Luciano Carrasco Falavinha, took a stand against the alleged abuse of economic power in the pre-campaign.
Rapporteur votes against impeachment
Falavinha considered that no irregularities committed by Moro in the pre-campaign or campaign for the 2022 elections had been proven.
For the rapporteur, the authors of the accusations, the PL and the PT, would need to prove at least three situations for him to vote for the recognition of the Aijes: that there was a deliberate intention by Moro, from the beginning, to run for the Senate for Paraná; that he violated the equality of candidates; in addition to demonstrations of campaign expenses, proving that Moro exceeded spending limits.
“It would be necessary to prove these situations, but this did not happen”, explained the rapporteur. In a long vote, Falavinha cited the accusations point by point and refuted them. “Applying the principle of proportionality, there is no way to recognize excesses”, he added during the explanation.
The case’s rapporteur voted shortly after the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE) declared itself in favor of the impeachment and ineligibility of Sergio Moro.
The MPE considered that approximately R$2 million was spent from the Party Fund on Moro’s affiliation event with Podemos and on hiring video production for the politician’s candidacy.
“The MPE does not accept the grounds regarding tax collection, illicit spending, corruption and misuse of the media, especially as it did not find support in the records. The point is that it is not necessary to use illicit resources here to find irregularities. The unrestricted application of resources could lead to an imbalance in the election”, pointed out the regional electoral prosecutor, Marcelo Godoy.
Judge Falavinha disregarded the values presented as illegal by PT and PL. For the judge, the values are different, and it is not possible to say that they were excessive.
According to Falavinha, the pre-campaign movement amounted to R$59,000 for holding a press conference, producing videos and renting cars for the launch of the pre-candidacy.
“An argument that cannot simply be reproduced is that of the alleged embezzlement of money, because for this to be possible the accuser would have to indicate where the money was diverted, favoring him in the campaign for the Senate or for a third person, which It didn’t happen, so much so that there was no challenge to the campaign’s own accounts”, argued the rapporteur.
The PT pointed out that R$21 million was spent. For the PL, R$7 million.
