STF rejects Dirceu’s conviction in Lava Jato for corruption

The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided this Tuesday to extinguish the conviction for passive corruption of José Dirceu, former Minister of Civil Housing in the first Lula government, for the then Lava Jato operation.

By three votes to two, the jury understood that Dirceu, 78,’s sentence expired because he is over 70, which cuts the statute of limitations in half. In practice, the Supreme Court decision does not address the merits of the accusation itself.

Dirceu was accused of receiving bribes in a contract signed between Petrobras and a company that supplied pipes to the state company, and was even arrested for this. He was convicted in 2017.

In 2005, Dirceu’s mandate as a federal deputy was revoked after he was appointed head of the “mensalão”, a system for paying bribes to parliamentarians to support projects from Lula’s first term, according to accusations by the Attorney General’s Office.

Dirceu was the main person convicted by the Supreme Court in the “mensalão” trial for the crimes of gang formation and active corruption. In 2016 he received a pardon from the STF.

The STF’s decision to expunge Lava Jato’s sentence could be another step in Dirceu’s attempt to seek political rehabilitation and even run for an elective position again in 2026, as he recently suggested.

Source: Terra

Rose

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