Supreme Court continues judging charges of corruption against politicians in mensalão case

The trial of Penal Case 470, known as “mensalão” (big monthly allowance), in reference to allegations of more or less regular bribes being paid to members of Congress so they would vote with the government during the period 2003-2005, will hold its twenty-eight session today (September 26). The justice-revisor, Ricardo Lewandowski, is expected to conclude the oral presentation of his vote on charges of passive corruption by 13 politicians who were members of political parties allied with the PT government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (the political parties were the PP, PL, PTB and PMDB).

This stage in the mensalão trial is denominated the first part of Chapter Six (the second part deals with active corruption by another ten defendants who are accused of masterminding the vote buying scheme). It should be borne in mind that the whole case has no less than 36 defendants charged with numerous counts of seven different crimes (active and passive corruption, malfeasance, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and illegal remittance of funds abroad). It is being tried at the Supreme Court (an example of original jurisdiction involving a penal case) because under Brazilian legislation all high ranking appointees in government and elected officials have the right to trial at the highest court in the land. When the mensalão became public in 2005, three of the accused were ministers (cabinet members) in Brasilia and eleven were federal deputies. In the seven years it took the case to reach trial at the Supreme Court, most of the accused left public life. At this moment, only three are still federal deputies and one is a mayor.

Since the beginning of the trial, the justice-relator, Joaquim Barbosa, has been severe in meting out punishment. In the first part of Chapter Six, he found 12 of the 13 defendants guilty of all the crimes they were charged with; absolving only a PL parliamentary aide. On the other hand, the revisor, Lewandowski, has been less rigid. So far, in part one of Chapter Six, he has voted on nine defendants (in the PP and PL) facing 23 criminal charges finding them guilty of only 13 charges. As a result, he has absolved three defendants of all charges and six defendants of the charge of money laundering (this is a consequence of a difference of opinion in what the relator and the revisor consider money laundering).

A more significant difference of opinion between the relator and the revisor is with regard to the pivotal question in the mensalão case: was the money used to buy support in Congress (as the prosecution and Barbosa claim) or was it used to pay off campaign debts (as the defense alleges).  In the few references he has made to the question, Lewandowski has said the payments were “…the fruit of agreements on campaign debts.” But this week he told reporters that his vote was “in constant elaboration. At the appropriate moment, I will present my position.”

After Lewandowski finishes his vote, the other justices will vote in reverse order of seniority: Rosa Weber, Luiz Fux, Antonio Dias Toffoli, Cármen Lúcia, Gilmar Mendes, Marco Aurélio Mello, Celso de Mello and the Chief Justice, Carlos Ayres Britto.

The judgment of the second part of Chapter Six is expected to begin only next week, on October 1. The defendants in this part of the case, linked to Marcos Valério and the PT, are all charged with active corruption.