Three STJ ministers declare themselves unable to judge Witzel’s dismissal | Politics

The ministers who declared themselves disabled are:

• Felix fischer
• João Otávio de Noronha
• Jorge Mussi

Fischer has a former assistant who is defending the case. Noronha and Mussi had already declared the impediment in a request for the release of Edmar Santos, former Secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro and a complainant of the alleged scheme of embezzlement of resources to face the pandemic.

• Understand the departure of Wilson Witzel

With that, the president of the Court, Humberto Martins, decided to summon the ministers who do not participate in the Special Court so that the case can be analyzed with a full quorum. This collegiate is made up of the 15 oldest ministers of the House. In total, the STJ has 33 chairs.

• Paulo de Tarso Sanseverino
• Isabel gallotti
• Antonio Carlos

In the evaluation of the STJ technicians, 10 of the 15 votes (quorum of 2/3) are required for Witzel to stay away from the local chief executive. The president of the STJ only votes in the event of a tie.

Behind the scenes, the ministers say that the tendency is to uphold the decision of the rapporteur, Benedito Gonçalves. The minister has been speaking with his colleagues about the process and explaining the elements that weigh against Witzel.

Witzel’s absence is valid for 180 days and was determined at the request of the PGR in Operation Tris In Idem, which investigates irregularities and deviations in health.

The governor denies having committed any crime and “contested” on Friday that the investigations present evidence against him.

The precautionary measure aimed to curb his alleged leadership over the criminal organization that promoted diversion of health resources in the state and also the impacts of “criminal engineering” on the public coffers of Rio de Janeiro.

The PGR even requested the arrest of the governor, but the request was denied by the STJ, which understood that the removal is enough to try to stop the criminal actions.

In the dismissal decision, the STJ minister reported that the Public Ministry pointed out the existence of a “sophisticated criminal organization” in the state government and that the organization’s actions “repeat the criminal scheme practiced by the last two former governors (Sérgio Cabral and Luiz Fernando Pezão) “.

Minister Benedito Gonçalves also said that the evidence goes beyond actions to combat the coronavirus and still begins in the 2018 election campaign.