Rio De Janeiro: Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki’s died in a small-plane crash just weeks before he was to rule on a major corruption case that could implicate high-ranking politicians in several Latin American countries.
While the cause of yesterday’s crash off a popular Brazilian coastal town had not been determined, Zavascki held such an important role in the sprawling “Car Wash” investigation into a multibillion-dollar bribe scheme at the state oil company Petrobras that many Brazilians and even international groups like Transparency International immediately voiced fears of possible foul play and demanded a full investigation.
“Justice Teori Zavascki had been strongly driving the #Carwash investigation in the Supreme Court. It’s hard to believe this was a mere accident,” tweeted Alan Mansur, director of the National Association of Prosecutors.
Federal police said yesterday that they were launching an investigation.
The plane, which was carrying Zavascki and four others, crashed outside Paraty, a coastal town about 250km west of Rio de Janeiro. Witnesses speaking to Globo television said it was raining hard at the time, which is typical during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Within an hour of the news of Zavascki’s death, President Michel Temer, who has been implicated by some suspects caught up in the Petrobras investigation but has not been charged, addressed the nation.
Zavascki “was a good man, and a (symbol of) pride for all Brazilians,” said Temer, who called for three days of national mourning.
Authorities said three bodies had been recovered so far. The other dead men were identified as businessman Carlos Alberto Filgueiras and pilot Osmar Rodrigues.
While the largest corruption probe in Brazil’s history has been led by a team of prosecutors and Judge Sergio Moro in the city of Curitiba, Zavascki handled cases involving politicians. Under Brazilian law, only Supreme Court can decide to charge or jail federal politicians.
Most recently, Zavascki had been reviewing dozens of plea bargains of former and current executives of the big Odebrecht construction company, which was one of the main players in kickback scheme at Petrobras that investigators allege involved more than $2bn in bribes. Over the last two years, dozens of politicians and businessmen have been jailed in the sprawling probe.
