Supreme Court Justice orders federal police chief and intelligence head reinstated

Brazil’s Supreme Court saw a rapid reversal of a suspension when Justice Flavio Dino issued an order to restore Andrei Rodrigues to his post as Federal Police director-general and to reinstate Leandro Almada as the agency’s intelligence chief. Dino argued that removing them would jeopardize investigations under their supervision. The move comes just one day after Justice Andre Mendonca had placed Rodrigues and Almada on preventive suspension, citing alleged involvement in the production of intelligence reports.

Those reports were tied to a controversy in which Justice Alexandre de Moraes was accused of contact with a banker implicated in a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, prompting calls for an inquiry into Moraes and a retaliatory request to investigate Mendonca for abuse of authority. Dino’s order also bars any new precautionary measures based solely on actions performed in the normal course of duty. The legal clash occurs amid heightened political tension ahead of Brazil’s upcoming presidential election.