Brazil: President Lula appoints his lawyer Cristiano Zanin to the Supreme Court

Brazilian President Lula has appointed his own lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, to become a Supreme Court justice. A very political choice, which still has to be ratified by the Senate, but which is already grinding the teeth of his opponents, Martin Bernard in São Paulo.

Lula's lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, on January 2, 2023 in Brasilia (Illustration image). AFP - MAURO PIMENTEL

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With our correspondent in São Paulo,Martin Bernard

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Thursday (June 1st) that he would appoint Cristiano Zanin, the lawyer who defended him during his corruption trials, to the Supreme Court. "Everyone expected me to nominate him, not only for the role he played in my defense, but also because I believe he will become a great judge of the Supreme Court," Lula told a news conference in Brasilia.

Hair slicked, always pulled to 4 pins, Cristiano Zanin is the 47-year-old lawyer who has defended Lula since he was accused of corruption. It was he who found the loophole in the Brazilian legal arsenal to obtain the annulment of his conviction. It was again Cristiano Zanin who remained in direct contact with him, during his 580 days of captivity.

Lula wanted to reward him for his skills and loyalty. His appointment still needs to be approved by the Senate, where former judge Sergio Moro, who convicted Lula of corruption, sits. Sergio Moro was also Jair Bolsonaro's justice minister. He maintains that the appointment of a personal friend of the President of the Republic undermines the republican spirit.

Jair Bolsonaro's son is indignant

Outrage also on the side of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. But the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, considered that the confirmation of Cristiano Zanin's appointment to the Supreme Court should ultimately pose no problem.

One of the 11 seats on the Supreme Court has been vacant since the retirement in April of former Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who was appointed by Lula at the end of his first term in 2006. This is the leftist president's first appointment to the Supreme Court since he began his third term in January.

During the election campaign against his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, Lula had repeatedly stated that he was against appointing "friends" to the High Court. "I think that the members of the Supreme Court should be chosen for their competence, for their CV, not out of friendship," he said during a debate on the Bandeirantes channel.

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  • Brazil
  • Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva