Brazilian Supreme Court Chief-Justice weighs in on the turmoil shaking the institution

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Chief-Justice of Brazil's Supreme Court Edson Fachin weighed in on the dispute between two rival judges and suspended their opposing decisions on Wednesday, effectively canceling them out, as he sought to shield the country's highest court from further damage.

The rift between Supreme Court judges perceived as occupying opposing ends of Brazil’s political spectrum is emerging as a major issue ahead of next month’s presidential election, in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could face off against Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in the second round.

But the power struggle inside the Supreme Court has also caused damage to the institution itself, with critics lambasting the chaos shaking the institution to its core.

“It is a serious situation when decisions by ministers are being challenged by their peers,” said Fachin in a court document. “It is necessary to prevent a situation of procedural conflicts and overlaps that, in themselves, constitute a threat to public order and to the integrity of this court,” he added.

The dispute started Tuesday when Justice André Mendonca removed federal police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues and the force’s intelligence director, Leandro Almada, for allegedly leading illegal investigations against Mendonca. Then on Wednesday, Justice Flávio Dino overruled his colleague and restored the two senior police officials to their posts.

Dino, a former justice minister who was appointed by Lula to the top court, contended that Mendonca, who was picked by former President Bolsonaro, cannot use his disagreements with the force to remove the two police officers “for his own cause, aiming to stop investigations and police work.”

At the heart of the crisis is fallout from the collapse of Banco Master, which has ensnared various politicians. Lula has called the case “the greatest financial crime in Brazil’s history” in a post on Wednesday.

“Greater transparency is necessary, not selective leaks that impact the electoral dispute," Lula said. “It is urgent to fully break the secrecy of the investigations of all those involved in the Master case, whoever they may be, no matter who it hurts. Brazil needs to know the truth.”

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro also commented on the crisis at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, criticizing Dino’s decision at a campaign rally in the city of Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais state. His father was stabbed at a similar event in the same city eight years ago, weeks before winning the 2018 election.

“Everyone can see that (Dino) isn’t judging a case but defending a cause, which is Lula’s,” Flávio Bolsonaro said. “It’s clear that it’s to interfere in the elections.”

Lula allies have accused Mendonca of stalling federal police investigations that hit Flávio Bolsonaro, while speeding up others that impact the president’s inner circle. Mendonca has denied such claims of bias.

Mendonca chairs two sensitive investigations as Lula prepares to face Sen. Bolsonaro in his reelection bid in October's national elections. One investigation centers on Banco Master, and the other looks at alleged frauds in Brazil’s pension system.

The first has hit mostly figures of the country’s opposition, while the latter has raised questions of wrongdoing by one of Lula’s sons.

Mendonca has also been embroiled in a public spat with fellow justice Alexandre de Moraes, who last year was the rapporteur of the case which saw Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Mendonca recently unsealed federal police documents that showed that Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro frequently sought de Moraes’ legal advice before his arrest.

De Moraes previously denied wrongdoing in the case, but he has faced pressure to resign since investigations showed his wife provided legal services to Banco Master as part of a 130 million reais ($25 million) contract. De Moraes is yet to make public comments about the case.

As well as suspending the decisions by Dino and Mendonca, Fachin removed de Moraes from the helm of a sprawling investigation into fake news and scheduled a plenary session for next Tuesday to analyze a report that points to de Moraes as an interlocutor of Vorcaro.

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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

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