Brasilia - Brazil is going back to the days of authoritarianism and arbitrariness, said José Roberto Batochio, lawyer of the former Treasury Secretary Antonio Palicki, detained yesterday during the stage 35 of the anticorruption operation Lava Jato.

'There is no need to arrest someone with a permanent residence, who was a minister twice and can provide all the information if he is summoned'.

According to the General Attorney Gonsalves Tessler, the former Treasury Secretary intervened 'actively and repeatedly' in the defense of the interests of the construction company Odebrecht, one of the most important in Brazil, in order to benefit it with government contracts.

'This is a groundless argument. For those who want an excuse, it is an excuse; but the fact is that the Treasury Secretary must have a dialog with the business sector, with the national production chain, in order to establish public policies', said Batochio.

After Palocci's arrest, lawmakers of the Workers' Party (PT) said Lava Jato had consolidated like an instrument of the coup against democracy.

The arrest of the former minister, announced last week by Justice Minister and supporter of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) Alexandre de Moraes, also confirms the electoral use given to the Federal Police, said deputy Afonso Florence.

According to Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, this kind of attitude prove that Brazil is currently in a state of emergency.

During the mandates of Lula and Dilma, the Justice Ministry never interfered in the work of the Federal Police, and privileged information about secret operations was never released, she stressed.

Hoffmann and other nine senators and two federal deputies filed an appeal last night against De Moraes, asking for the separation of the minister, arguing he violated professional secrecy by announcing the beginning of the new Lava Jato stage.