PGR asks to hear former Petrobras president about Bolsonaro’s alleged interference

The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) asked the STF (Federal Supreme Court) this Monday (4) to hear former Petrobras president Roberto Castello Branco regarding messages that point to alleged interference by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the state.

The agency, in a statement signed by the deputy attorney general Lindôra Araújo, also requests that the former president of Banco do Brasil Rubem Novaes give testimony on the matter.

The request was forwarded to the case’s rapporteur at the Supreme, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso. As the Judiciary is on recess in July, the process was in the hands of the vice president of the STF, Rosa Weber, who is on duty.

In this statement, says Lindôra, Castello Branco should be asked to clarify whether there were messages and audios on his corporate cell phone that could incriminate the President of the Republic, and explain the content of this content.

In addition, you would have to explain the dates, circumstances and contexts in which these messages were forwarded or received, and why you did not present them to the competent authorities as soon as possible.

Novaes, on the other hand, would have to clarify the history of contact with Castello Branco, the nature of the conversation and whether there were alleged exchanges of messages between the two in which Castello Branco would have reported on irregularities committed by the president.

Lindôra’s demonstration was made after a request for the opening of an investigation by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) on possible evidence of “crimes” that would have been committed by the President of the Republic.

Randolfe also wanted there to be a search, seizure and forensic examination of the cell phone used by Castello Branco. For him, there were indications of the practice of crimes such as malfeasance, passive corruption or embezzlement, criminal condescension and violation of functional secrecy.

A report on the website Metrópoles showed an exchange of messages between a group of economists on a social network, in particular between Castello Branco and the former president of Banco do Brasil Rubem Novaes.

The former president of Petrobras said that the corporate cell phone that was returned to the state company contained messages and audio that could incriminate President Jair Bolsonaro.

Castello Branco, then, says he returned the device “intact” to the state-owned company.

Lindôra says that the elements presented so far do not bring sufficient conviction on the part of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to initiate the requested investigation.

But he says, however, that “the dialogue maintained and not denied by the interlocutors raises further clarifications that can guide investigative measures that are not hasty or reckless”.

“To better understand the facts brought to the case, it is necessary to provide additional information in order to form a minimally secure collection for the Public Ministry’s position regarding the possibility of instituting a criminal investigation with some probative and empirically justifiable plausibility. “, he says.

Petrobras became the target of controversy in the last month, due to the rise in fuel prices. After the state-owned company announced a new adjustment, Bolsonaro and the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), began an offensive that resulted in the resignation of then president José Mauro Coelho – the third exchange in the Bolsonaro government.

Last Monday (27), Petrobras’ board of directors confirmed the appointment of Caio Paes de Andrade to the company’s presidency. He was also elected to integrate the collegiate, a precondition for him to head the state-owned company.