Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) ruled Thursday that it would be taking immediate charge of the investigations into former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, removing judge Sergio Moro from the case.

It also stamped a seal on the recorded telephone calls between Lula and President Dilma Rousseff.

The decision confirms a statement made last week by STF Justice Teori Zavascki that the court was the only one empowered with investigating the former head of state.

However, this does not necessarily mean the STF would finally pass a sentence on Lula, as this will be debated next week at the same time as it decides whether Lula can take a place in Rousseff' s cabinet as chief of staff or whether doing so would impede investigations.

In a statement Thursday, Zavascki affirmed that Moro had leaked the conversations too early and had "hurt the role of the STF."

"The judge must send all the intercepted conversations to the Supreme Court. The decision to leak conversations of the president. ..does not remove the seal of secrecy (concerning the matter)," he said.

One of the conversations disclosed on March 16 was a short call from the president's office, in which President Rousseff mentioned that she was sending Lula the 'decree of investiture' to be used  'in case of need'. Opponents have seized upon this as evidence that Rousseff was naming Lula to help him avoid prosecution.

However, earlier this week, Moro apologized to the STF, recognizing that he had been wrong to release the recordings and had violated the rights of the president.  

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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