Brazil president to wait to replace justice killed in crash
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s president said Saturday that he would wait to name a replacement for the Supreme Court justice who died in a plane crash until after the court reassigns a major corruption case he was handling.
Justice Teori Zavascki was in charge of handling accusations against politicians in the “Car Wash” investigation, a multibillion dollar kickback scheme involving the state oil company Petrobras. He was in the process of deciding whether to validate several plea bargain agreements, potentially making public accusations against high-profile businessmen and politicians.
His death Thursday raised questions about who would take over this critical work. President Michel Temer nominates judges to the Supreme Court, and typically a new justice would take over the caseload of the one he replaces. The court can also decide to reassign the caseload to a sitting justice.
Many Brazilians have said in recent days it would be unseemly for Temer to name the next rapporteur to the case because he himself might be implicated in the plea bargains, Temer has denied any wrongdoing in the “Car Wash” case.