Sérgio Moro: If there was a conviction in three instances of President Lula for crimes of corruption and money laundering in the Petrobras case; if there were also scandals in the past of the Lula government, such as the mensalão case, that characterization is open to debate and there are arguments on both sides.
Sérgio Moro: But the fact is that our courts never declared President Lula innocent in those episodes.
So, with that fact within the scope of the political dispute and debate of our time, it is evident that it is entirely unreasonable and arbitrary to bring charges against a citizen who simply exercised his freedom of expression and stated his opinion, believing, yes, that Lula is responsible for those crimes.
Sérgio Moro: One can, yes, rebut; one can, yes, counter-argue, but never use the mechanisms of the justice system to seek to curtail public debate, to seek to curtail political debate regarding this matter.
Sérgio Moro: When Delegado KIQ told me that he had been charged, I immediately understood that the measure was unjust and arbitrary, and I offered to appear as a witness in the case, a defense witness.