Moraes asks PGR to comment on content found on Wassef's cell phone
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), ordered the PGR (Attorney General's Office) to comment on information found by the Federal Police on the cell phones of lawyer Frederick Wassef.
According to the corporation, "fortuitous events" were identified in the devices. Now, the PGR will have 15 days to evaluate the findings and comment on possible "criminal hypotheses". The data was identified during the analysis of materials seized in the Saudi jewelry case.
The decision, signed on Tuesday (30), responds to a statement from the PGR itself, which agreed with the PF on the need to analyze the material separately.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the elements highlighted by the investigators have no relation to the main investigation. Therefore, Moraes also ordered that the content be removed from the jewelry process and filed in an autonomous and confidential petition.
The PF's request for a separate analysis of the material was sent to the STF on March 4. On the same day, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, asked for the investigation into the alleged appropriation, by Bolsonaro, of gifts received as head of State to be shelved.
According to the PGR, there is no law that clearly establishes the destination of gifts received by presidents of the Republic from foreign authorities, which, in Gonet's assessment, would make a possible complaint against Bolsonaro and his allies unfeasible.
It will now be up to the PGR to assess whether the new elements indicate the commission of crimes.
In a statement, Wassef states that his prerogatives as a lawyer were violated, as the PF search and seizure took place without the presence of a representative of the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association).
Read the full note from Frederick Wassef:
"My prerogatives as a lawyer were seriously violated when I was searched and seized for 4 and a half hours, without the presence of an OAB representative.
The Minister Rapporteur himself ordered that the search be accompanied by a representative of the OAB, and this judicial decision was disregarded, affronting the entire class of lawyers in Brazil and creating a dangerous precedent.
The search and seizure is null and illegal, as it is flawed in origin.
Apart from this, the time span of 3 years and 3 months does not allow for the figure of a "fortuitous event", being, in reality, a blatant evidentiary fishing, illegal and prohibited by the STF itself.
I have never committed any irregularity and there is nothing illegal on my cell phones or even signs of illegality that justify an investigation without just cause."
Source: CNN