Brazil Supreme Court crisis jolts October election season

Brazil's Supreme Court cancelled a second straight deliberation session as justices clashed over allegations surrounding Alexandre de Moraes. The feud has widened political fault lines and sharpened institutional uncertainty ahead of the October elections.

In Short

• Chief Justice Fachin postponed hearings and called an unusual Tuesday sitting
• Justices will weigh whether Alexandre de Moraes faces inquiry over banker ties
• Andre Mendonca unsealed police files claiming Vorcaro repeatedly sought legal advice

Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled a second straight session of deliberations, underscoring a deep institutional and political crisis that is now spilling into the country's October national elections. Allegations of graft, political bias and police interference have cast a shadow over several members of the court.

Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin cancelled the session and called the court to reconvene on Tuesday, an unusual sitting day. The full bench of 10 justices is set to examine whether Justice Alexandre de Moraes should face an investigation over alleged links to Daniel Vorcaro, the owner of failed Banco Master, which was shut after allegations of fraud.

The crisis at the court flared up on September 1, when Justice Andre Mendonca, an appointee of former president Jair Bolsonaro, unsealed federal police documents showing that Vorcaro had repeatedly sought legal advice from de Moraes. Since then, tensions between de Moraes and Mendonca have intensified.

De Moraes, a conservative, was praised by supporters of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after he sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison last year over an attempted coup. Mendonca had earlier served as Bolsonaro's solicitor-general before joining the Supreme Court.

Earlier this week, de Moraes responded by seeking an inquiry into an alleged abuse of power by Mendonca, accusing him of interviewing the banker without policemen or prosecutors being present. The dispute has also widened politically, with both Lula and his rival in the coming elections, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president's son, calling for investigations into Supreme Court justices along party lines.

The leadership of Brazil's federal police has also been drawn into the dispute, after competing Supreme Court rulings this week first removed and then reinstated the force's director-general. With court proceedings disrupted for a second consecutive session, the confrontation among the justices has deepened Brazil's political and institutional uncertainty ahead of the elections.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends