Brazil's jailed ex-leader Lula da Silva could be freed following top court vote

[sandensea]

Brazil's Supreme Court has voted to end mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after they lose their first appeal, restoring the previous rule that they should be allowed to exhaust all their appeal options before being locked up.

The politically charged re-interpretation of the country's penal code could lead to the release of dozens of high-profile convicts, including former leftist president Luiz "Lula" da Silva, jailed last year for alleged corruption.

By a 6-5 vote, the court overturned a three-year-old rule that contributed to the success of Brazil's biggest corruption investigation, the so-called Car Wash (Lava Jato) operation, led by former judge and current Justice Minister Sérgio Moro, that put dozens of company executives and politicians in jail for bribes and kickbacks.

Lula, 74, was jailed in April 2018 for an eight-year sentence after he was found guilty of taking bribes from engineering firms in return for government contracts, and money laundering.

Lacking material evidence, his conviction was based solely on testimony from jailed contractors.

The $700,000 apartment Lula was alleged to have received from a contractor by way of a bribe, was put on the market by its real owner in June.

What's App and Telegram messages obtained by The Intercept confirmed longstanding suspicions of political animus against Lula and his center-left Workers' Party (PT) by Moro and the chief prosecutor in the Car Wash case, Deltan Dallagnol.

His lawyers are expected to swiftly file for his release at the lower court that convicted him.

At: https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-america/brazil-s-jailed-ex-leader-lula-could-be-freed-following-top-court-vote-20191108-p538pj.html

Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, arguably his country's most prominent political prisoner, during an interview on April 26 - the first he was allowed to give since his imprisonment a year earlier.

Today's Supreme Court ruling, which ruled the mandatory imprisonment of convicts on losing their first appeal unconstitutional, opens the door for Lula's release from prison - though the far-right Jair Bolsonaro regime is expected to disregard the ruling in his case.

Convicted last year solely on testimony from a contractor kept in a rat-infested dungeon until he incriminated him, the UN considers his detention arbitrary.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Everyone, especially the right, knows he was railroaded so he couldn't be elected.

Everyone was aware polls showed he was undoubtedly going to be re-elected, and ready to finish the job he started, the work which brought healing to Brazil's vast poverty-stricken population, the job which the racist elites reviled, despised, and wanted to destroy. He was lifting the people OUT of deep deprivation and suffering, and he was beloved all over the world as he did it. He was beloved by human beings, and loathed by the predators.

As soon as the prominent hard-right judge completed the treachery against Lula, President Bolsonaro placed him in his administration as the Justice Minister, as mentioned in the article.

I would love to add this article from the last summer:

Bolsonaro minister who jailed Lula takes leave after leaks cast doubt on impartiality
This article is more than 3 months old
Sérgio Moro became a national hero for his role as a judge in the sweeping graft scandal Operation Car Wash

Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Mon 8 Jul 2019 15.57 EDT

Brazil’s justice minister, Sérgio Moro, has been granted a leave of absence following a slew of damaging leaks that have cast serious doubts over his impartiality as a judge in a sweeping graft scandal.

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president, approved the break, from 15-19 July, for Moro to “deal with personal matters”, according to an official government document published on Monday.

The ministry said Moro will be on holiday, but analysts speculated Moro’s job was threatened following leaked cellphone chats which showed that as a judge, he guided prosecutors in the investigation which led to the imprisonment of powerful businessmen and politicians including the former Workers’ party president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The leaks, published since 9 June by the Intercept with some of Brazil’s major media outlets, have unleashed a political storm.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/08/moro-lula-leaks-bolosnaro-justice-minister-takes-leave-brazil

Lula has endured so many years of vicious attacks, continuous attacks by the greedy oligarchs from his first day of office. People here may recall their attempt to claim he was a heavy drinker, an out-of-control alcoholic for a while until they realized people just weren't buying it. They tried to accuse him of corruption for years and years before they were able to pull this off this stunt which denied him the Presidency everyone knew was his.

So important to have heard this newest development. Hoping so much Bolsonaro's gang can't devise a way to keep him in prison, and hoping the power of truth will overcome this crime against Brazil's real President.

Thank you, so much, sandensea! So much depends upon the near future.