Lawyers for former banker Daniel Vorcaro have petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States, as they seek to overturn his pretrial detention. They have also requested a meeting with Brazil’s Supreme Court president, Edson Fachin, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, according to the report.

The defense says its petition does not seek to challenge the substance of the investigations or replace Brazil’s courts. Instead, it asks for a decision on Vorcaro’s freedom within a reasonable time and for treatment consistent with human dignity. In a statement, lawyers Sérgio Leonardo and Engels Muniz said they want Brazil to answer internationally for alleged violations, describing the OAS mechanism as one the country accepted through its participation in the relevant convention.

The lawyers cite Vorcaro’s continued detention despite there being no formal accusation by the Prosecutor General’s Office or criminal action against him, the case remaining at the Supreme Court despite his not having special jurisdiction, and the release of conversations extracted from his phone, which was seized by Federal Police.

Vorcaro was first arrested on November 17 last year while attempting to leave Brazil. He was released later that month after appealing to the Federal Regional Court of the First Region. He was arrested again in March on the order of Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça.

Fachin took the Master investigation files into his office in September, halting further decisions by Mendonça, the case’s assigned justice. The move followed Mendonça’s order for federal police to prepare a report that disclosed links between Vorcaro and Justice Alexandre de Moraes. On October 29, Fachin decided that the case would remain temporarily under the Supreme Court presidency, with him handling urgent matters, including reviews of pretrial detention. He also referred the decision to the full court for approval.

Vorcaro’s lawyers said the arrangement does not resolve their client’s request for release, which they say was filed on September 18 and remains undecided. They added that they sought a meeting with Fachin after learning that the court president would handle urgent issues during this period.

On October 28, federal police indicted Vorcaro, former BRB president Paulo Henrique Costa and 13 other people over suspected financial crimes connected to the sale of credit portfolios to the state-owned bank in Brasília. Vorcaro is suspected of fraudulent management, fraud against financial oversight, money laundering, misleading investors about a financial operation and participation in a criminal organization. Costa was indicted on suspicion of fraudulent management and participation in a criminal organization.

Vorcaro’s defense described the police report as hasty and said it drew conclusions that the investigation itself had not yet reached.

Sources: Folha Mercado.