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  4. Lula still a prisoner despite granting of habeas corpus

Lula still a prisoner despite granting of habeas corpus

11 July 2018
Sunday 8 July 2018 will go down in the history of Brazil as the day that proved the judiciary is engaged in the political persecution of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Rogério Favreto, judge at the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF4), ordered the provisional release of Lula on the morning of Sunday 8 July, on the grounds that the pre-candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was prevented from giving interviews, making speeches or broadcasts, unlike the other pre-candidates in the presidential elections.

Favreto used this “new fact” to justify granting habeas corpus to the ex-president and, in this way, guarantee equal treatment for pre-candidates in the Brazilian electoral process.

However, after various conflicting rulings throughout the day, the head of TRF4, Judge Carlos Eduardo Thompson Flores Lenz, ruled that ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should remain in prison, after an appeal by the Federal Prosecution Service against the habeas corpus granted by Favreto.

"This has got to end”, said Jocelio Drummond, Public Services International (PSI) Regional Secretary for the Americas, saying that Brazilians are living "in a country with a biased judicial system that interprets laws in accordance with the wishes of a minority rather than in the public interest".

This situation is a scandal, said Drummond, given that, despite everything, many electoral polls show that "Lula continues to represent the hopes of millions of workers who form the majority in the country". 

"Only the elitist minority will not accept this fact. This minority controls the judicial system and the media, facilitating a constant stream of unconstitutional actions. Most Brazilian judges are prepared to “do whatever their friends want, and use the law against their enemies', in a biased and distorted way."

This assessment is similar to the one in Boletim da Resistência Democrática (Democratic Resistance Bulletin) number 140, which states that: "after TRF-4 granted habeas corpus in response to the application presented by the deputies Paulo Pimenta (PT-RS), Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP) and Wadih Damous (PT-RJ), who is a lawyer and part of Lula’s defence team, those involved in the Car Wash corruption scandal, notably Judge Sérgio Moro, committed a crime by using every possible way to prevent the release of the PT leader".

 

 

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