THE First Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decided to maintain the conviction of former governor of the Federal District José Roberto Arruda (photo) for administrative improbity in one of the Operation Pandora’s Box processes.
The decision was handed down during a virtual trial that took place on the 13th of this month and was announced this Wednesday (29).
Unanimously, the collegiate rejected an appeal filed by the defense of the former governor, who is ineligible due to the convictions regarding the corruption scheme that was investigated in the district government in 2009.
The lawyers defended the annulment of the conviction for misconduct after the Electoral Court annulled one of the environmental wiretaps that were used by Durval Barbosa, whistleblower of the scheme, to denounce irregularities in the government.
The specific case deals with irregular contracts involving Linknet, a computer company that provided services to the DF government.
When analyzing the case, the STJ ministers understood that the former governor’s conviction was not based only on environmental listening, but on documentary and testimonial evidence.
In a note to Brazil Agency, Arruda’s defense informed that it “disagrees with the STJ’s decision, insofar as it endorsed a conviction based on illicit evidence and, therefore, null”.
The lawyers added “that said decision does not impact Arruda’s eligibility, as the provisions of the new electoral legislation apply.”
* Text updated at 10:39 pm to add the defense statement
