Heloisa Cristaldo and Débora Zampier         Reporters Agência Brasil

Brasília – The justice-relator in Penal Case 470, the mensalão, Joaquim Barbosa, told journalists that the defense lawyers who have announced their intention to file appeals for their clients at the Court of Human Rights at the Organization of American States should read the Brazilian constitution.

”Ask them if Brazil is a sovereign nation, sovereign enough to make its own decisions,” said Barbosa, as he pointed out that Brazilian jurisprudence and legislation does not permit appeals in cases where defendants have special criminal venue (“foro privilegiado”), which is exactly the situation in the mensalão case.

As for the argument the defense lawyers have made that judges who hear witnesses and gather evidence (“instrui o processo”) cannot sit in judgment in the same case, Barbosa called it fallacious. “This is to fool the lay public and make more money from uninformed people,” he sentenced.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Joaquim Barbosa critica advogados do mensalão que pretendem acionar OEA