Brazil’s Supreme Court extinguishes José Dirceu’s conviction for corruption

Brasil de Fato

On Tuesday (21), the second panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court extinguished the conviction of former federal deputy José Dirceu (Workers’ Party) for passive corruption as part of Operation Car Wash.

In an exclusive interview with Brasil de Fato in April this year, Dirceu confirmed that he intends to return to electoral races in 2026. “To be fair with my journey, I have the right to return to the Chamber as a federal deputy,” he said.

In the trial, which began in March 2023, rapporteur Luiz Edson Fachin voted to uphold Dirceu’s conviction. Former Supreme Court minister Ricardo Lewandovski, who currently heads the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, voted for the sentence to be statute-barred, since the indictment acceptance did not respect the deadline.

On Tuesday afternoon, Supreme Court ministers Kassio Nunes Marques and Gilmar Mendes sided with Lewandovski and secured a majority of three votes for the extinction of the sentence. Dirceu was sentenced to 8 years, 10 months and 28 days by the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba for passive corruption and money laundering.