Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), decided that the president of the National Union of Retirees, Pensioners and Senior Citizens of Força Sindical (Sindnapi) can remain silent this Thursday (9), in a statement scheduled at the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) on fraud at the National Social Security Institute (INSS). 
Due to the decision, Milton Baptista de Souza Filho, known as Milton Cavalo, is released from answering questions from deputies and senators, given the risk that the answers could incriminate him.
For Dino, the union leader is obliged to appear, but can remain silent, since “there are indications that the summons, even if formally as a witness, is part of an investigative dynamic that can expose him to the forced production of evidence against himself”.
The president of the INSS CPMI, senator Carlos Viana (Podemos-MG), complained about the “shielding of people close to the government”, who were “using legislation” to avoid giving explanations.
Milton Cavalo’s summons to testify at the CPMI was requested by several parliamentarians opposing the government. Sindnapi, which he presides over, is one of more than ten associative entities investigated for fraud in INSS retirements and pensions.
The union’s vice-president is José Ferreira da Silva, known as Frei Chico, brother of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The union leader, however, does not appear as a target of the investigations.
