Judge in Brazil's crisis-hit Supreme Court orders police chief suspension

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Tuesday ordered the suspension of the federal police chief as the country's top court contends with a crisis ahead of presidential elections.

Scandal has once again engulfed the court after it emerged last week that a disgraced banker charged with fraud apparently asked one of its judges for help, days before his arrest.

The messages sent from Daniel Vorcaro to a number attributed to Judge Alexandre de Moraes were disclosed by fellow Judge Andre Mendonca.

In a new twist, Mendonca on Tuesday accused the federal police of having illegally spied on him, describing an "extremely serious" surveillance operation.

Mendonca's ruling, seen by AFP, came after Moraes alleged that Mendonca had abused his authority and called for an investigation.

The judge ordered the "preventive suspension" of federal police director-general Andrei Rodrigues and police intelligence chief Leandro Almada da Costa.

The suspensions take immediate effect but will have to be ratified by the rest of the Supreme Court.

A government source told journalists, including AFP, that the state's public legal defense body was expected to appeal the ruling.

Acting police chief William Murad reaffirmed the institution's "full confidence" in Rodrigues.

Eleven police division chiefs even offered to resign over the suspension they believe resulted from "narratives clearly influenced by political-electoral interests," according to a letter seen by AFP.

The two judges are butting heads less than a month before presidential elections.

A Quaest survey published Monday predicted leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro both taking 41 percent of the vote in an eventual runoff.

Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, has seized on the Supreme Court's latest difficulties to curry favor.

He welcomed the latest ruling issued by Mendonca, who was nominated by his father in 2021.

"May the honorable and glorious Federal Police once again have the autonomy to go after criminals, and not Lula's political opponents," Bolsonaro wrote on X.

Marco Aurelio de Carvalho, legal coordinator of Lula's campaign, said Brazil was going through "an unprecedented institutional crisis."

"We cannot allow public offices to once again be captured by political and electoral interests," he told AFP.

Moraes presided over the case that convicted Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup after losing elections in 2022.