Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, remained silent in statements to the Federal Police (PF) this Thursday (31) about the jewelry sale case. Lawyer Fábio Wajngarten and soldiers Marcelo Câmara and Osmar Crivelatti, who were Bolsonaro’s advisors, also did not testify – on the other hand, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, Mauro Cid, and his father, Mauro Lourena Cid, spoke to the cops.
In order not to testify, Bolsonaro, Michelle, Wajngarten, Câmara and Crivelatti relied on the argument that the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) pointed out that the case should not be processed in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), but rather in the first instance of the judiciary. .
“In this way, considering that the PGR is the final recipient of the evidence from the inquisitorial phase to form a judgment of conviction as to whether or not it is sufficient elements to support a possible criminal action, the petitioners, in the full exercise of their rights and respecting the constitutional guarantees assured, they choose to adopt the prerogative of silence regarding the facts now being investigated”, said a note signed by Bolsonaro and Michelle’s lawyers.
When declaring that Wajngarten would not testify, the lawyer representing him, Eduardo Kuntz, stated in a note that he “remains entirely available to provide any clarifications, as long as the insurmountable rules of due legal process, broad defense, and the competence of his professional prerogatives as a lawyer and, also, respecting his domicile, which is in the Capital of São Paulo”. Interestingly, Wajngarten signs the document delivered by Bolsonaro and Michelle’s defense to justify their refusal to testify.
Cid family testifies
If some refused to testify this Thursday, the same did not happen with Mauro Cid, and his father, Mauro Lourena Cid. They were among the people summoned to speak to the PF simultaneously, with the aim of identifying possible contradictions between the versions presented.
According to UOL, father and son testified for several hours this Thursday. They were interviewed by the PF in Brasília. TV Globo found that lawyer Frederick Wassef, also summoned, remained at the PF headquarters in São Paulo in the afternoon, which indicates that he had not refused to testify.
“I am absolutely calm, I have never committed any irregularity or illicit act and I have been a victim of fake news from some journalists,” Wassef told CNN upon arriving at the PF headquarters.
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
