Sergio Moro

Sergio Moro
Official portrait, 2023
Senator for Paraná
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 February 2023
Minister of Justice and Public Security
In office
1 January 2019 – 24 April 2020
PresidentJair Bolsonaro
Preceded byTorquato Jardim (Justice)
Raul Jungmann (Public Security)
Succeeded byAndré Mendonça
Personal details
Born
Sergio Fernando Moro

(1972-08-01) 1 August 1972 (age 52)
Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
Political partyPodemos (2021–2022)
Brazil Union (2022–present)
Spouse
Rosângela Wolff
​
(m. 1999)​
Children2
Alma materState University of Maringá (LLB)
Federal University of Paraná (LLM, PhD)
Signature

Sergio Fernando Moro[1] (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɛʁʒju ˈmoɾu]; born 1 August 1972) is a Brazilian jurist, former federal judge, college professor, and politician. He was elected as a member of the Federal Senate for Paraná in October 2022.[2] In 2015, he gained national attention as one of the lead judges in Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: Operação Lava Jato), a criminal investigation into a high-profile corruption and bribery scandal involving government officials and business executives.[3][4] Moro was also Minister of Justice and Public Security under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro from 2019 to 2020.[5][6]

On 29 October, shortly after the 2018 Brazilian general election, President-elect Bolsonaro nominated Moro to be Minister of Justice and Public Security.[7] On 1 November, Moro accepted the job after personally meeting with Bolsonaro.[8][9] His appointment to Bolsonaro's cabinet and the way he had previously conducted Operation Car Wash (in particular former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's case) drew praise from his peers and a significant portion of the Brazilian society. However, it also faced significant criticism, especially after allegations of partiality and judicial misconduct on his part were published by the American investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald, during the Car Wash investigations.[10][11][12][13][14][15] Moro left the government in April 2020, mentioning the President's undue interference in the affairs of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.[6] Then in 2020 he worked with the firm Alvarez and Marsal for almost one year.[16]

Since his retirement from public service, leaked messages exchanged between then-judge Moro and Brazilian prosecutors resulted in widespread questioning of his impartiality during the Operation Car Wash hearings; Moro has publicly disputed these allegations.[17] On March 9, 2021, the habeas corpus trial was resumed in the Supreme Federal Court that questioned his impartiality, with two judges, Gilmar Mendes and Ricardo Lewandowski, voting that Moro was indeed biased, including the vote of these two last for the payment of a US$40,000 fine and the court costs of the lawsuit filed against Lula.[18] Later, in 2022, the United Nations Committee agreed with the STF that Sergio Moro was biased in all cases against Lula.[19]

  1. ^ Brown, Dennis (2 October 2017). "Brazilian Judge Sergio Moro Receives Notre Dame Award". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Brazil's former Justice Minister Sergio Moro elected senator for Paraná state". The Rio Times. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Effects of Petrobras scandal leave Brazilians lamenting a lost dream". The New York Times. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2017. If any good has come from the Petrobras debacle it is the flickering sense that this time could be different. Part of the reason is the work of Judge Sérgio Moro, who is overseeing the investigation, officially known as Operação Lava Jato, or Operation Carwash.
  4. ^ Cruz, Fernanda (31 August 2015). "Sergio Moro fighting corruption should bring benefits to Brazil". Agência Brasil. Retrieved 15 July 2017."Federal Judge Sérgio Moro, in charge of the proceedings opened under Operation Car Wash"..."The judge reported that the evidence gathered during the operation as well as the allegations given under plea bargain indicate that the payment of bribes through contracts at Petrobras was a common practice."
  5. ^ "A história de Sergio Moro, o juiz que sacudiu o Brasil com a Lava-Jato". GaúchaZH (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Ex-juiz Sergio Moro anuncia demissão do Ministério da Justiça e deixa o governo Bolsonaro" [Former judge Sergio Moro announces resignation of the Ministry of Justice and leaves the Bolsonaro's government]. G1.com (in Portuguese). 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Bolsonaro vai convidar o juíz Sérgio Moro para ser ministro" (in Portuguese). Último Segundo. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Moro aceita convite de Bolsonaro para comandar o Ministério da Justiça" (in Portuguese). G1. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Bolsonaro appoints judge who helped jail Lula to lead justice ministry". The Guardian. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  10. ^ McCoy, Terrence (13 July 2019). "Glenn Greenwald has faced pushback for his reporting before. But not like this". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Brazil must reveal investigations into journalist Glenn Greenwald, court says". The Guardian. Associated Press. 16 July 2019. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  12. ^ Petrov, Arkady (16 July 2019). "Federal Police Plan Arrest and Fake Confession of Vaza Jato Hacker, Says Intercept". The Rio Times. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  13. ^ Londoño, Ernesto (20 July 2019). "'The Antithesis of Bolsonaro': A Gay Couple Roils Brazil's Far Right". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Brésil: tentative de piratage des téléphones de Bolsonaro". Lefigaro. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  15. ^ "The Brazilian justice minister's dubious deportation decree | DW | 30.07.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  16. ^ Temóteo, Antonio (30 November 2020). "O que faz a empresa que contratou Moro e tem entre clientes a Odebrecht". economia.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Moro nega ter orientado procuradores da Lava-Jato e abandona entrevista". Correio Braziliense (in Brazilian Portuguese). 10 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Processo n. 4.118 do STF". Jusbrasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Jamil Chade - Comitê da ONU conclui que Moro foi parcial e dá vitória para Lula". noticias.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 27 April 2022.