(Brasilia) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Thursday that he would appoint Cristiano Zanin, the lawyer who defended him during his corruption trials, to the Supreme Court.
“Everyone expected me to nominate him, not only for the role he played in my defense, but also because I believe he will become a great Supreme Court justice,” Lula said. at a press conference in Brasilia.
Born in Piracicaba, in the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), Mr. Zanin, 47, is a lawyer specializing in civil and procedural law.
He gained notoriety by defending Lula during his trials related to the “Lavage-express” corruption scandal.
Convicted, then imprisoned for 580 days, from April 2018 to November 2019, Lula then saw his convictions overturned by the Supreme Court in 2021, thanks to the appeals of Cristiano Zanin.
One of the Supreme Court’s 11 seats has been vacant since the retirement in April of former Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who was appointed by Lula at the end of his first term in 2006.
To be effective, the appointment must still be approved by the Senate. On Thursday, the President of the Upper House, Rodrigo Pacheco, declared that Lula’s lawyer met “all the necessary conditions” to occupy one of the seats of Brazil’s highest court.
“I know his qualities as a lawyer, head of the family, and I know his training. He will be an outstanding Supreme Court justice, if his name is approved by the Senate,” Lula said Thursday.
It is the left-wing president’s first appointment to the Supreme Court since the start of his third term in January.
During the election campaign against his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, Lula had nevertheless repeatedly affirmed that he was against appointing “friends” to the High Court.
“I think that the members of the Supreme Court should be chosen for their competence, for their CV, not for friendship,” he said during a debate on the Bandeirantes channel.