Witzel’s defense requires that the STF immediately analyze the suspension request | Politics

The precautionary measure that removed Witzel, initially determined by Minister Benedito Gonçalves, of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), was confirmed by the Special Court of the court in a trial held last Wednesday (2) by 14 votes to 1.

The governor’s lawyers told the Supreme Court on Friday (4) that Minister Benedito Gonçalves sent his decision to the Specialized Court of the STJ, “without even giving the defense a floor, in the oral argument.”

They also say that they have not yet had a chance to state their reasons. In practice, the lawyers want Witzel to return immediately to command of the state government.

In addition, they specified that “there are no concrete elements that justify such an extreme measure of public order and federative balance.”

“The request for the immediate suspension of the order of removal from public functions is reiterated, a measure whose serious consequences, in the perspective of an elective mandate limited in time, only deepen with the passing of days,” affirm the lawyers in the request.

In this action, Minister Dias Toffoli had already denied a request to suspend the session of the Special Court of the STJ, which ended up endorsing the dismissal of the governor.

Last Thursday (3), in an opinion in the framework of the same action, the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, defended that the dismissal is “essential” to “guarantee the health of the investigation”, by “the own nature violations perpetrated ”.

The decision that led to the dismissal of the governor is part of Operation Tris In Idem, which investigates irregularities and deviations in health resources in Rio de Janeiro.

The PGR affirms that the RJ government has established a bribery scheme for emergency contracting and to release payments to social organizations (OS) that provide services to the government, especially in the areas of Health and Education.

The suspicion is that the governor received, through his wife’s law firm, at least R $ 554,200 in bribes. The MPF discovered a transfer of R $ 74 thousand from Helena Witzel to the governor’s personal account.

The discovery of the criminal scheme began with the investigation of irregularities in the hiring of field hospitals, respirators and medicines to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Witzel has said that he never committed illegal acts, did not receive amounts diverted from the public coffers and that he will continue to work to “prove the truth.”