Brazil Supreme Court judge handling graft probe killed in plane crash

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Reuters

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki was killed in a plane crash on Thursday, his son said, raising doubt over who will take over his blockbuster graft investigation into dozens of politicians.

Rescuers found three bodies in the wreckage of the small, twin-prop plane that crashed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state amid heavy rains, according to firefighters.
...
Zavascki had been reviewing explosive testimony from dozens of executives at engineering group Odebrecht that has been expected to implicate hundreds of politicians in the biggest corruption case in Brazil's history.
...
The investigation led by Zavascki, involving at least 6.4 billion reais ($2.0 billion) in bribes for contracts with state-run enterprises, has led to the jailing of dozens of senior executives and threatens to batter the ruling coalition of President Michel Temer.




Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-crash-idUSKBN1532WH?il=0

[Ford_Prefect]

1. We could have warned them to stay out of small planes...

[tenorly]

2. Investigating dictators has always been a hazardous job.

[Scalded Nun]

3. He should have read up on Paul Wellstone

[Judi Lynn]

4. Hideous. I hope this won't intimidate, diminish the future efforts of this investigation.

Clearly it's an indication he was a threat to the fascist thugs who initiated the sleazy coup of the elected President.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Brazil supreme court justice overseeing vast corruption case dies in plane crash

Brazil supreme court justice overseeing vast corruption case dies in plane crash

Teori Zavascki was on a small plane that crashed into the sea off the coast

Timing of plane crash is likely to raise questions of possible foul play


Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro
Thursday 19 January 2017 15.46 EST

. . .



Zavascki has played a crucial role in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) judicial inquiry into a bribery and kickback scandal that has implicated scores of politicians – including the current and former presidents Michel Temer and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and several dozen other prominent politicians – and resulted in the jailing of the former head of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha.

In recent days, the judge had been reviewing evidence from senior executives at Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction company, which could result in many more arrests of powerful figures in Congress and the business community.

There was no initial announcement of the cause of the crash, but the timing prompted speculation that the judge had fallen victim to foul play.

“Brazilian politics has been outdoing itself with strange cases involving authorities. It is natural to have suspicious but its too premature to say what happened,” said Edson Sardinha of the political watchdog Congresso em Foco.

“It does leave a question mark in relation to Lava Jato. Teori was responsible for over seven thousand cases, over a hundred related to Lava Jato, with confidential cases, plea bargains, and cases of politicians, ministers and executives. This reinforces the cynicism that our society already has in abundance. “

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/19/brazil-supreme-court-corruption-case-teori-zavascki-dies-plane-crash

[Judi Lynn]

6. BRAZIL MUST CONTINUE TO PROSECUTE LAVA JATO CORRUPTION CASES AND APPOINT A COMMITTED NEW JUDGE

20 JANUARY 2017

The sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki must be investigated

Issued by Transparency International Secretariat


Transparency International, the global anti-corruption movement, calls for the Brazilian government to appoint a committed judge to continue the Lava Jato corruption cases following the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Teori Zavascki. He was in charge of one of the biggest corruption scandals involving senior Brazilian politicians and powerful business interests.

The government must also launch a full investigation into Justice Zavascki's death .He died on 19 January when a private plane he was travelling in crashed into the sea near Rio de Janeiro.

Justice Zavascki was the lead Supreme Court judge in the Lava Jata (Car Wash) scandal which has exposed a network of bribery and corruption among members of the Brazilian government, the state-owned oil giant Petrobras and the engineering and construction conglomerate Odebrecht. The government should not let this tragedy interrupt the important work that Justice Zavascki was undertaking.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Justice Zavascki, his family and all the people who died in the crash. This is a terrible tragedy and a great loss of a courageous man,” said José Ugaz, chair of Transparency International.

More:
http://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/brazil_must_continue_to_prosecute_lava_jato_corruption_cases_and_appoint_a