The Regional Electoral Court (TRE) of Paraná recently opened its third session to judge the processes that could lead to the revocation of the mandate of senator Sergio Moro (União-PR), former judge of Operation Lava Jato.
The trial was suspended on Wednesday (3), when judge Claudia Cristina Cristofani requested a review of the processes (more time to analyze) and suspended the analysis of the issue.
So far, the trial is tied at 1 to 1. In previous sessions, judge Luciano Carrasco Falavinha Souza voted against the revocation, and judge José Rodrigo Sade expressed himself in favor of the measure.
The court judges two actions in which the PT, the PL and the Public Electoral Ministry (MPE) accuse Moro of abuse of economic power for allegedly carrying out irregular expenses in the pre-campaign period for the 2022 elections.
At the end of 2021, Moro was at Podemos and carried out pre-candidacy acts for the Presidency of the Republic. According to the accusation, there was an “illegal disadvantage” in favor of the other candidates for the position of senator due to the “high financial investments” made before Moro left the party and ran for the Senate for the Union.
For the Public Ministry, approximately R$2 million was spent, coming from the Party Fund, on Moro’s membership event for Podemos and on hiring video production for personal promotion, in addition to electoral consultancy. The PL pointed out alleged irregular expenses of R$7 million. For the PT, it was R$21 million.
In the first sessions, Moro’s defense defended the maintenance of the mandate and denied irregularities in the pre-campaign. According to lawyer Gustavo Guedes, Moro was not elected in Paraná due to the supposed “more robust” pre-campaign, as the parties accuse.