[H-PAD] Urgent Action: Sérgio Moro Is Not Above the Law

Wed May 13 17:11:14 PDT 2020

Dear Members and Supporters of H-PAD,

Please consider signing the statement below that James Green who teaches 
Latin American history at Brown University is circulating as part of the 
US Network for Democracy in Brazil. To do so, send your name and 
affiliation to James_Green at brown.edu.

Thanks,

Marc Becker
Professor of History
Truman State University

  *No One, Not Even Sérgio Moro, Is Above the Law*

Dear Friends of Brazil:

The US Network for Democracy in Brazil is circulating the statement 
below on the recent situation in Brazil, focusing on the ways in which 
Sérgio Moro, with the support of the mainstream media in Brazil, is 
crafting an image as being an intransigent defender of democracy.

We plan to circulate it widely among Brazil specialists *in the United 
States and Europe*, as well as among Brazilians living abroad and 
Friends of Brazil, for their support and signatures. We will then 
disseminate it to the Brazilian press and U.S. and European outlets.

If you would like to sign the statement, please send me your *name and 
affiliation (*for identification purposes only).

*_Example:_*
James N. Green, Brown University

Fulana de Tal, The Brazil Democracy Collective
Fulano de Tal, independent artist

*If you are willing to sign, please send an email with your complete 
name and affiliation to: **James_Green at brown.edu 
<mailto:James_Green at brown.edu>*

A luta continua,
James N. Green
Gladys Mitchell-Walthour
National Co-Coordinators, US Network for Democracy in Brazil

*No One, Not Even Sérgio Moro, Is Above the Law*

Brazil is currently going through a devastating public health crisis as 
infections and deaths from Covid 19 increase daily at an alarming rate. 
The disastrous response by President Jair Bolsonaro to the pandemic has 
alarmed Brazilians and foreigners alike. In the midst of this critical 
situation, on April 24, 2020, Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro resigned 
from his office, accusing Bolsonaro of political influence in Brazil’s 
federal police.

In making this charge against President Bolsonaro, Moro seeks to present 
himself as a guardian of the rule of law and democracy in Brazil. Much 
of mainstream media has echoed this portrayal. We, the undersigned 
scholars of Brazil and Brazilians living abroad, believe that this image 
does not correspond to Moro’s record.

As the judge of the Operation Car Wash, Sérgio Moro violated fundamental 
rules of Brazilian due process, acting as a party to the procedure and 
not as an impartial judge. Private messages published by the Intercept 
Brazil 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=4428b9496a&e=062cdf78bb> revealed 
that Moro guided the work of the prosecutors, especially against former 
President Lula da Silva. Moro also violated President Rousseff's 
privacy, amongst other serious infractions. This 
politically-oriented behavior had a direct impact on the 2018 
presidential election and cleared the way for Bolsonaro’s victory.

During his term as justice minister, Sérgio Moro never showed any 
disagreement with Bolsonaro’s far-right agenda. Moro proposed a legal 
reform of the criminal code that violated several constitutional 
guarantees 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=ccdb8f7abb&e=062cdf78bb>. 
Despite his legal powers, he did not prevent the increasing violence 
against indigenous and traditional peoples 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=83c5b37e6c&e=062cdf78bb> and 
illegal invasions of their territories. He did nothing to curtail 
illegal arm sales that go into the hands of para-military militias. The 
minister also refused to adopt any measures to protect journalists and 
the freedom of expression in Brazil. 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=5f96792cf9&e=062cdf78bb>

For sixteen months, Moro never criticized Bolsonaro’s constant attacks 
on democracy, nor did he show any discomfort with the president’s 
previous attempts to interfere with criminal investigations 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=171f5e6986&e=062cdf78bb>. On 
the contrary, he was the Justice Minister who requested more 
investigations to protect Bolsonaro than others had done to protect 
previous presidents 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=a76a9e63e1&e=062cdf78bb>. In 
responding to Moro’s accusations, Bolsonaro declared that his former 
minister proposed to stay in office in exchange for a future appointment 
to the Federal Supreme Court. These mutual charges led the Chief of the 
Federal Prosecution Office to open an investigation into Moro’s 
allegations and a group of lawyers to denounce Sérgio Moro to the Public 
Ethics Commission for his presumptive /quid pro quo/with the president.

Although Moro leveled strong and relevant criticisms against Bolsonaro 
in his renunciation speech, these do not erase the ways he violated due 
process in the Car Wash investigation nor his complicity with official 
government policies while he was a member of the Bolsonaro administration.

Brazil is facing a very serious health crisis combined with political 
and economic turmoil. Even so, for the sake of democracy, Sérgio Moro 
must be held accountable for his past actions. No one is above the law.

*James N. Green, Brown 
University<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=2157a3de75&e=062cdf78bb>**[*]*
*Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee^* *
*National Co-Coordinators, U.S. Network for Democracy in Brazil*

*_Initial Sponsors:_*
Alexander Main, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Aline Cristiane Piva, Washington Brazil Office Advisory Board
Alvaro Jarrin, College of the Holy Cross
Ana Alakija, International Press Committee (IPC)
Barbara Weinstein, New York University
Ben Cowan, University of California, San Diego
Brown University Committee for Democracy in Brazil
Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee/New York
Erika Robb Larkins, San Diego State University
Fernanda R. Rosa, University of Pennsylvania
George A. Judice, University of Miami
International Press Committee (IPC)
Jeffrey W. Rubin, Boston University
Joel Wolfe, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Juliana Moraes, Executive Director, Washington Brazil Office
Krista Brune, Pennsylvania State University
Kristal Bivona, University of California, Los Angeles
Leandro Benmergui, Purchase College
Leonel Lima Ponce, Pratt Institute
Miami Network for Democracy in Brazil
Marc Becker, Truman State University
Marina Adams, National Organizer, US Network for Democracy in Brazil
Mauricio Acuña, Princeton University
Maxine L. Margolis, University of Florida
Myriam Marques, Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee/New York
Natalia de Campos, Defend Democracy in Brazil Committee/New York
Nathaniel Wolfson, University of California, Berkeley
Pedro Meira Monteiro, Princeton University
Rafael Ioris, University of Denver
Rede Defend Democracy (Brazil)
Roger Kittleson, Williams College
Roni Wine, Brown University
Sean T. Mitchell, Rutgers University-Newark
Sidney Chalhoub, Harvard Univerity
Stanley A. Gacek, Esquire, U.S. labor attorney, District of Columbia Bar 
Association
Steven F. Butterman, University of Miami
Sueann Caulfield, University of Michigan
Tracy Devine Guzmán, University of Miami

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[*] 
<https://democracybrazil.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=516db067f0bfd21b52864f3d4&id=d4cd07e905&e=062cdf78bb> Affiliation 
for identification purposes only

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