São Paulo Governor Names Ricardo Salles Justice Secretary Amid Smuggling Trial

Governor Tarcísio de Freitas of São Paulo has chosen federal deputy and former environment minister Ricardo Salles to head the state Justice and Citizenship Secretariat, Revista Fórum reports. Salles will replace Arthur Lima, a military officer who coordinated the Institutional Security Cabinet during the Lula and Dilma Rousseff administrations between 2008 and 2011, according to Agência Pública.

The appointment takes effect in January 2027 and coincides with the opening of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP31, where President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged wealthy countries to fulfill their climate commitments, Agência Pública says.

“The government should make an effort while we are in this moment of press tranquility, because only Covid is talked about, and pass the cattle herd, and change all environmental regulation, and simplify norms.”

Salles remains a formal defendant in the Supreme Federal Court under Criminal Action 2705, Revista Fórum states. The Public Prosecutor's Office accuses him of leading an institutionalized scheme to favor native Amazon timber smuggling during his tenure at the Ministry of the Environment.

The case originated in Federal Police Operation Akuanduba and was first accepted by the 4th Federal Criminal Court of Pará in August 2023 before returning to the Supreme Court because of forum privilege rules, Revista Fórum explains. Minister Alexandre de Moraes is the rapporteur, and the court recently confirmed its competence to proceed, with the case now in the final arguments stage.

Salles faces four main crimes, Revista Fórum notes, though the source text does not specify them. During his time as environment minister from 2019 to 2021, he reduced Ibama's enforcement work against environmental crimes, Agência Pública reports.

He also became known for the April 2020 ministerial meeting remark that the government should "pass the cattle herd" while press attention was focused on Covid-19 to loosen environmental rules through decrees and administrative opinions, both outlets report. The recording was made public in May 2020 by Supreme Court Minister Celso de Mello.