Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro wants crusading judge in cabinet

The far-right president-elect was swept to victory Sunday on a wave of anti-establishment outrage fueled in part by Moro's investigation into the large-scale looting of state oil company Petrobras

Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro (File | AP)

RIO DE JANERIO: Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro says he wants to name anti-corruption crusader Sergio Moro as justice minister, or else nominate the judge - the head of the massive "Car Wash" graft probe - to the Supreme Court.

The far-right president-elect was swept to victory Sunday on a wave of anti-establishment outrage fueled in part by Moro's investigation into the large-scale looting of state oil company Petrobras, which has landed a laundry list of corrupt politicians and business executives in jail.

Bolsonaro, 63, said in his first interview as president-elect Monday night that he would ask Moro to serve in his government, and also doubled down on campaign pledges to relax gun-control laws and implement his conservative agenda.

"I do intend to (approach Moro)... maybe for the justice ministry," he told TV network Record.

"I plan to speak with him, to find out if he's interested and, if there is interest on his part, he will certainly be an extremely important person in a government like ours."

He also floated Moro as a possibility for one of two Supreme Court positions set to be vacated during his term.

Since it was launched in 2014, Moro's investigation has taken out a Who's Who of politicians and executives who colluded to skim billions of dollars from Petrobras coffers.

Although politicians of all stripes have fallen, Moro has been accused of being particularly merciless on the left - especially former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had been trying to stage a come-back in this year's presidential race.

Moro sentenced Lula - a hugely divisive but enduringly popular figure -- to jail for taking bribes from a Petrobras contractor.

Lula is currently serving 12 years, which led the courts to bar his presidential run.

Bolsonaro also revisited his most radical proposal for fighting Brazil's soaring crime rate: loosening gun laws so "good people" can take justice into their own hands.

"It's clear there's a need, because of the violence in Brazil. The country is at war," he said.

"We want to change the law. We need to lower the minimum age (to bear guns) from 25 to 21."We can't place any more burdens on people who have a gun at home to defend their family's safety.