Thousands of people protested in Brazil on Sunday in support of Brazilian Minister of Justice Sergio Moro, who is battling claims that he conspired with prosecutors on his anti-corruption drive to keep former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from seeking another term.
Moro, who joined Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s Cabinet in January, has faced calls for his resignation over leaked chats purportedly showing he worked with prosecutors in the so-called Car Wash probe to keep Lula out of last year’s presidential race.
News Web site G1 reported that demonstrators dressed in Brazil’s national colors of yellow and green took to the streets in 88 cities — including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital, Brasilia — in a show of support for Moro.
Photo: AP
The protesters also demanded that the Brazilian Congress approve the government’s ambitious overhaul of the bloated retirement system.
Bolsonaro has warned that it will bankrupt the country if changes are not adopted.
“I think Minister Moro is fundamental to everything that is going well in this country,” Nelson de Oliveira Filho, 70, told reporters at the Sao Paulo march. “Show me one person before him who could make people believe, in whom we could place our trust.”
Bolsonaro tweeted his congratulations to the protesters, while Moro thanked supporters who “believe in our work.”
“Hackers, criminals, or malicious publishers will not alter these fundamental truths,” Bolsonaro said on Twitter.
In the latest messages published by The Intercept investigative Web site, prosecutors expressed concern that Moro had a personal and political agenda in the probe and were unhappy over his appointment to the government, which they feared would undermine the credibility of the investigation.
“I think it’s the Web site that should be judged. It is a matter of Brazilian sovereignty,” 69-year-old Alceu Valdenor Rossi said at the Sao Paulo protest.
Moro has questioned the authenticity of the leaked chats and dismissed claims that he showed bias in the Car Wash cases.
He recently told a Brazilian Senate committee that he had been the victim of “revenge” over his anti-corruption efforts.
The Car Wash probe, which began in 2014, upended Brazilian politics by uncovering large-scale looting of state oil company Petrobras. Scores of top players across the political spectrum as well as business figures have been taken down.
However, critics say that Moro — who handed Lula his first conviction in 2017 for money-laundering and taking bribes, effectively ending his election hopes — targeted the former president and his Workers’ Party (PT) most of all.
The Brazilian Supreme Court last week postponed debate on whether Moro had been impartial after rejecting a petition to free Lula.
Lula, who led Brazil through a historic boom from 2003 to 2010, has denied all the corruption charges against him.
He has long argued that they were politically motivated to prevent him from competing in last year’s election, ultimately won by Bolsonaro.
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