Brazilian Supreme Court judge annuls rival’s decision, restores federal police chief to his post

SAO PAULO — Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino restored two senior police officials to their posts on Wednesday, overruling a decision by a rival judge and deepening a major crisis at the country’s top court.

Dino, a former justice minister who was appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the top court, reversed a decision made Tuesday by fellow Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca to remove the federal police’ director-general Andrei Rodrigues and the force’s intelligence director, Leandro Almada, for allegedly leading illegal investigations against him.

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

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

Dino added his decision should only be reviewed by the full court, currently formed of 10 justices.

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 the collapse of Banco Master, which has ensnared several politicians, 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 sentenced Jair Bolsonaro 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.