Priscilla Mazenotti
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Next Wednesday (30), Federal Supreme Court (STF) justice Sepúlveda Pertence is expected to cast his tie-breaking vote on the granting of a writ of mandamos ("mandado de segurança") suspending the floor vote in the Chamber of Deputies on the motion to revoke the legislative mandate of deputy José Dirceu (PT-SP). The vote in the STF ended up in a tie, yesterday (23), with five votes against and five votes in favor of Dirceu's appeal.

Minister Pertence, who failed to appear for reasons of health, is expected to cast his vote at the STF's next adjudicatory session. "Everything in its time. Now we have to wait for minister Sepúlveda to vote," said the president of the STF, minister Nelson Jobim.

Of the four items questioned by Dirceu's lawyers in the appeal, five of the justices refused the request in toto. But the other five, including the president of the STF, accepted the appeal in part, namely, the item in which the lawyers allege that the defense witnesses were heard before the prosecution witnesses, thus stifling ample defense and cross-examination.

The other three items, in which Dirceu's lawyers questioned the withdrawal of the motion in the Ethics Council by the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), the extension of the time period for the motion to be judged, and the disclosure of private bank information to the Ethics Council by the Joint Parliamentary Investigatory Commission on the Post Office, were all denied in toto.

If minister Pertence votes in favor of accepting the appeal in part, Dirceu's trial may go back to the Ethics Council for the witnesses to be heard again, as stipulated in the votes of four of the five justices who accepted the appeal in part.

The session that will break the tie on Dirceu's appeal in the STJ will be held on the same day as the floor vote on the motion calling for a floor vote in the Chamber to revoke the deputy's mandate. Dirceu's layer, José Luiz Oliveira, is studying the possibility of filing a petition with the STJ to prohibit the vote in the Chamber until Pertence's vote has been cast. "I will do everything to defend José Dirceu's right to a defense, and, if this step is appropriate, it will be taken," he said.

The rapporteur of Dirceu's appeal in the STJ, justice Carlos Ayres Brito, observed that the votes are still subject to change. "The judgment is not over. Only on Wednesday, with the return of the absent minister. No minister is prevented from rejoining the debate, recasting his or her vote," he explained.

Justices Carlos Ayres Brito, Joaquim Barbosa, Ellen Gracie, Gilmar Mendes, and Carlos Veloso voted against the appeal. Justices Cezar Peluzo, Eros Grau, Marco Aurélio Melo, Celso de Melo, and Nelson Jobim voted in favor of the appeal in part.

Translation: David Silberstein