(Opinion) Remember when Luiz Lula da Silva, today’s president-elect, miraculously got out of jail in April 2021 because of a ‘conflict of powers’ that his friends at the Supreme Court had found?
He served his 25-year prison sentence at the time with the blessing of all of Brazil for fraud and corruption, among other charges, but ended up doing just 580 days of his time.
Something similar is happening again now. At least that’s how it seems.
This time the lucky one is Sérgio Cabral, the last politician arrested in a closed regime after Operation Lava Jato, former governor of Rio de Janeiro and apparently a ‘special’ friend of Luiz Lula da Silva (see photos below) .
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He was one of the big fish among the ‘bad guys’ in the world famous Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato), the biggest corruption scandal in Latin America.
But a few days ago, he received authorization from Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) to leave prison.
The STF has removed the measure of detention and with this he has been placed under house arrest pending the completion of the ongoing criminal actions. It is involved in the following:
– 33 prosecutors;
– 23 convictions;
– 523 million bribes;
– 933 million for money laundering;
– 430 years in prison.
Just imagine for a moment what Lavao Jato’s bosses must have thought of him if they wanted to send him to prison for over 400 years.
Cabral is now awaiting the conclusion of ongoing criminal proceedings.
Now, you’re probably wondering why the ongoing criminal activity exists and what it’s all about.
The former governor had been inside preventive detention since 2016, and that’s the point.
This preliminary or procedural arrest is put into action when there is still no final sentence.
Now you may rightly ask why there hasn’t been a final sentence since 2016. But when you see that the man was released today under house arrest and when you learn on what basis he is released, you immediately understand why.
Pretrial detentions do not have a fixed time limit, but must be reviewed every 90 days by the judge in charge.
For example, they can be ordered to prevent interference with investigations or the continuation of crimes.
This means that, in practice, Cabral had not yet begun serving his sentence in the case. This is because there is still the possibility of appeal.
The STF decided in 2019 that the serving of the sentence begins only after all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted (res judicata of the sentence).
Lawyers Daniel Bialski, Bruno Borrangine, Patricia Proetti and Anna Júlia Menezes, who represent the former governor, argued precisely that the preventive detention was extended beyond a reasonable time.
The defense also said that Sergio Cabral no longer has political influence in Rio’s government, which justified his arrest in 2016.
At the time, he was no longer in office, but had succeeded in rooting in his successor Luiz Fernando Pezão.
Although he received habeas corpus to get out of prison, the former governor will be placed under house arrest, decreed in other cases. In total, Cabral’s sentences are 430 years in prison.
None of them have become final and unappealable.
Former Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral left the Military Police prison unit in Niteroi on Monday (December 19th) to serve under house arrest.
Cabral left the prison around 8:30 p.m. without speaking to the press.
The politician went to a family apartment in Copacabana, in the southern area of Rio.
Last Friday (December 16), the Second Chamber of the Federal High Court (STF) formed a majority to quash the previous detention order against the former governor.
On Monday afternoon, the judge of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, Gabriela Hardt, ordered the release of Cabral and the fulfillment of preventive measures.
In addition to house arrest, the politician must wear an electronic ankle bracelet.
The Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro will indicate that the costs of the electronic monitoring must be borne by Sérgio Cabral himself.
He may not promote parties or other social events at his residence; he cannot change his address without prior judicial authorization; he must appear in court whenever summoned.
THE KABRAL STORY
Sérgio de Oliveira Cabral Santos Filho is a Brazilian journalist and politician, former member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB).
He was a state deputy for three terms, from 1991 to 2003, and a senator from 2003 to 2006.
He later served as governor of Rio de Janeiro, serving a term from January 1, 2007 to April 3, 2014, when he resigned from office.
He was considered by Época Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Brazilians of 2009.
In 2016, he was arrested in the Lava Jato operation and was charged with passive corruption, money laundering and currency evasion. He was targeted by the Federal Police in operations Calicut, Eficiência, Fatura Exposta, Muscat and Foul Game.
Cabral also had previous controversial stays at the José Frederico Marques Public Prison, the Gericinó Prison Complex and the Complexo Médico Penitentiary (CMP) in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba.
In February 2017, he became a defendant for the fifth time, accused among crimes of corruption and money laundering.
In March, he was charged with monetary evasion and passive corruption. In April, he was indicted for the seventh time for running a criminal organization that rigged bids and formed a cartel to renovate the Maracanã and PAC das Favelas.
In June 2017, he became a defendant for the tenth time and in the same month was sentenced to 14 years and two months in prison.
In September, he was sentenced to 45 years and two months in prison for the crimes of passive corruption, money laundering and criminal organization as part of Operation Kaliku.
In December 2017, he was sentenced for the fourth time to a further fifteen years for a total of 87 years in prison and responded to thirteen other trials at the Federal Court of Rio.
As of August 28, 2019, the sentences imposed on Cabral already exceed 233 years in prison.
In 2019, he signed a plea agreement with the Federal Police, later approved by Judge Edson Fachin.
In 2020, with his 15th conviction, the sentence reached more than 300 years.
In 2022, the Supreme Court (STF) lifted his detention and he was placed under house arrest pending the end of ongoing criminal activities.
Sergio Cabral’s 24 convictions (23 are the developments of Lava Jato) exceed 435 years in prison.
If Lula da Silva becomes president of Brazil on January 1st, I expect that Cabral will magically be cleared of all the ‘bad’ charges.
He will receive a few slaps on the hand, enough to keep the population from revolting.
It continues.
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