Description: Submitted by Celso P. Santos Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers ‘Party (PT) surrendered to the...
Date: 2018-05-11T12:51:02+00:00

Editor's choice Politics 11.05.2018 - 368 views
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Brazil: Former President Lula is arrested for corruption and money laundering 2.8 out of 5 based on 5 ratings. 5 user reviews.

# Brazil: Former President Lula is arrested for corruption and money laundering

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Submitted by Celso P. Santos

Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers ‘Party (PT) surrendered to the Federal Police (PF) and was arrested the night of Saturday, April 7, after spending two days at the headquarters of the ABC Metalworkers’ Union in São Bernardo do Campo. He was in the building in the since Thursday (5), when Judge Sergio Moro issued an arrest warrant.

Lula walked out of the union headquarters at 6:42 pm and walked to a nearby building where PF teams were waiting for him. He got into the PF car at 6:47 p.m. The exit had to be done this way because, at 17h, Lula tried to get out of the car, but was stopped by his supporters.

The convoy continued going to the PF Superintendence, in Lapa, São Paulo, where it arrived at 7:44 pm. Demonstrators for and against the arrest were waiting for him. The vehicles came in normally.

Protesters for the arrest ran toward the car where the former president was and cursed him. After the convoy entered, the pro and anti-prison groups exchanged offenses and shoves.

Attempted Exit

According to the PF, Lula was “attended by doctors from the Medical-Legal Institute of São Paulo”, who performed the examination of a body of crime. At 08:05 pm, the former president entered a helicopter of the Military Police that followed towards the Congonhas Airport, in the South Zone. The aircraft landed at 8:22 p.m.

Lula entered a single-engine turboprop airplane belonging to the PF itself. The small aircraft with Lula took off at 8:46 p.m. and arrived in Curitiba at 10:01 p.m.

After the take off, demonstrators against the prison and who were waiting for Lula’s arrival in front of the authorities’ sector gate of the airport blocked the sense of the North-South Corridor neighbourhood. Military Tactical Police officers used a morale bomb to disperse the group. One man was arrested.

In the first attempt to leave the union, Lula returned to the interior of the building when being stopped by militants to leave with his car.

After more than an hour, the PT president, Senator Gleisi Hoffman, got into a sound car and told the militancy that the PF had given half an hour for them to solve the situation. She added that if it had not been resolved, “it’s Lula that will suffer the consequences.”

“When Lula made the decision, he made the decision based on a situation. The resistance we can make. But the reading we do here is not our resistance, but it’s his resistance,” Gleisi said.

Conviction

Lula was sentenced in two courts of law in the case of the triplex apartment in Guarujá. The penalty set by the 8th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) is 12 years and 1 month in prison, starting in a closed regime, for passive corruption and money laundering. The judge vetoed the use of handcuffs “under any circumstances.”

Around noon, Lula spoke for 55 minutes during a religious ceremony in honour of former First Lady Marisa Letícia, who would turn 68 on Saturday and he said wouldn’t “run” and “hide.” The former president also criticized the decisions of the judiciary.

“Do not think that I am against the Jet Wash Operation, not … the Jet Wash, if you catch a thug, you have to pick up a thug even if you stole it and arrest it.” “I do not want you to be poor, you do not hold rich.” “We all said, and I want you to keep on getting rich, destroys the people of society in the image of the people, and then the judges will judge and say, I cannot go against public opinion, because public opinion is asking to hunt, drop off the toga and go to be a candidate for deputy. Choose a political party and go to be candidate. Toga is the employment for life. The citizen has to vote only based on the proceedings of the process.”

During the speech, Lula asked Judge Sergio Moro to present evidence against him. “I am not afraid of them, I have already said that I would like to have a debate with Moro about the complaint he made against me, I would like him to show me some proof … What crime have I committed in this country? Because I dreamed that it was possible to govern that country by involving thousands of poor people in the economy, giving places in universities and jobs for the poor? “, Lula questioned.

The deadline given by federal judge Sérgio Moro for Lula to appear spontaneously expired at 5 pm on April 6, but the former president, together with his lawyers and party colleagues, decided to remain in the trade union.

Lula arrived at the union headquarters on Thursday (April 5) at 7:15 p.m., one hour and 22 minutes after Moro signed the jail sentence. During all day long, he received his lawyers, friends and co-religionists to define what his presentation to PF would be like. Outside, PT leaders, trade unions and other leftist parties took turns in the sound car to address the ex-president to thousands of coreligionists. Around 9 pm, militants began to carry sleeping bags and food. Hundreds passed the Saturday night at the union headquarters. Protesters also did acts contrary to the former president in 24 states and the Federal District.

The defence tried to avoid Lula’s arrest with a preventive habeas corpus in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), but in April 4 the request was denied by the Ministers, by 6 votes to 5. The defence wanted that the sentence only be fulfilled after the judgment – that is, after all the possibilities of appeal have been closed in the higher courts, which was rejected.

In a statement, lawyer Cristiano Zanin Martins, one of Lula’s defenders, states that “the arrest warrant contradicts the ruling issued by the TRF-4 itself on January 24, which conditioned the measure – incompatible with guaranteeing the presumption of innocence – to the exhaustion of possible appeals to be presented to that Court, which has not yet occurred. ”

Prison

On this Thursday, the TRF-4 sent an official letter to Moro authorizing the start of execution of the sentence.

The PT’s defence, however, may still present a last resort to TRF-4, which does not, however, have the power to reverse the conviction. The deadline of 12 days for the presentation of this resource began to count on the last day 28 and ends on April 10.

In the order, Moro affirms that such resources are “proteolytic pathology”.

“Hypothetical embargoes of declaration of foreclosure of declarations constitute only a pathological pathway and that should be eliminated from the legal world,” Moro wrote.

“In any case, embargoes of declarations do not alter judged, with which the convictions cannot be changed in the second instance,” he added.

Once the chances of appeal in TRF-4 are exhausted, Lula’s lawyers can still appeal against the conviction in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in Brasília.

Lula is accused of receiving a triplex apartment on the coast of São Paulo as a covert tip from the construction company to favour the company in contracts with Petrobras. The former president denies the allegations and claims to be innocent.

One room was reserved for Lula on the top floor Federal Police Superintendence, in Curitiba, Paraná.

“It should be clarified that, because of the dignity of the position held, a reserved room, a kind of General Staff Room, was prepared in advance in the Federal Police Superintendence itself, for the commencement of sentence, and in which the former president will be separated from the other prisoners, without any risk for moral or physical integrity, “says Moro in the office.

In the order, the magistrate still ordered the execution of the prison sentence against the former executives of the construction company OAS José Adelmário Pinheiro Filho and Agenor Franklin Magalhães Medeiros. Both are already incarcerated in the PF prison in Curitiba.

Presidential candidacy

Once the conviction has been confirmed and the appeals closed in the second judicial body, Lula is ineligible in the forthcoming presidential elections of October 2018 by the Clean Registry Act.

In the electoral sphere, however, the situation of the former president will be decided by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which should analyse its possible candidacy registration. The parties have until August 15 to file applications. The TSE has until September 17 to accept or reject applications.

The former president may also request a preliminary injunction (provisional decision) from the TSE or a higher court that will allow him to run for the 2018 elections. The Clean Registry Act provides for the possibility of someone continuing to run for public office if there are pending appeals against the judgment.

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### Opinion: Brazil´s Bad Choices

- Michał Hunicz

  Great news this corrupted scumbag was arrested. Brazil’s economy which is in shambles is an example of how socialism works.

  - Bernardo Morais

    You just prove that you know nothing about Brazil. In Lula goverment the country had his highiest economic numbers. Indeed, never became at least close to socialism.
    We are very capitalist and have have corruption all over the country.

    Don’t talk shit if you don’t know anything about Brazil economy.

    - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

      O senhor sabe muito bem que não é verdade. O Socialismo no Brasil começou com FHC e continuou com PT.

    - Thomas Wolsey

      Since after the so called Military regime fell everything in brazil is socialism.

    - Daniel Castro

      Brazilian economy during Lula was all due to the commodity boom caused by GWB war on Irak, we managed to amass some reserves then, but came the 2008 crisis and the government went on a spending drive to sustain an artificial economy, PT burned it all to sell the illusion our country was doing good so they could perpetuate themselves in power forever.

      The farse was over, it’s good we managed to take them down before they managed to be majority in congress and the supreme court.

- Daniel Castro

  Have you guy in Southfront paying attention in south america at all? I thought you never reported on this because you’re not interested, this is actually pretty old news already.

- Serious

  Non zionists presidents will be removed in south america. It was the case for Lula, then Rousself. The same for Argentina and Kirchner.

  - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

    Thanks a lot WE brazilians take Dilma Rousself before Brasil become a Venezuela. Do you think the situation in Venezuela is due to low oil prices? Russia, QATAR….

    - Serious

      Venezuela is boycotted. And, people of Venezuela can’t do shit by their own. If you boycott Colombia, Colombia will become like Venezuela.

      Venezuela is targeted on purpose. If USA decided to boycot israel or Saudi Arabia, these two countries will become even worst.

      - Daniel Castro

        Venezuela is not boycoted, we never boycotted them, and in fact we were banking them… It’s a fucking joke, they not only have all the oil in the world, they also had to take money from brazilians who earn every penny with the sweat of our work, and they still couldn’t make it, people there are starving.

        - Serious

          I don’t know why people think that oil is money. Oil is only energy. You need brains to transform oil in products, which give you money.

        - Daniel Castro

          Are you saying venezuelans don’t have brains?

          The fact is it is much, much harder to get money from other activities than it is with oil or other highly demanded commodities.

        - Serious

          Venezuelans don’t have the german mentality. It’s very hard (even impossible) to create an economy without being completely under USA domination.

          I see that Venezuela is attacked by the globalists. So, consequences are currency bankrupt. Even USSR collapsed when USA start a currency war.

          Unless Germans, nobody can challenge USA and noice that the ifrst ethny in USA is Germans.

        - Daniel Castro

          No, you see nothing, Venezuela could have become a powerfull country, but instead they went on with welfare policies before the country had any conditions of sustaining that. You just don’t give money to the people, this is the path to corruption of society, before that you need to invest in real education (technical, scientifical, not this socialist BS of gender studies and shit), you develop industries and all fields of economy, then after that if you have a sane economy you can start welfare.

          This is what happened to Venezuela, they never had the ability to refine their own oil and started giving away money, this generates so much distortion in economy it breaks the country apart, it happened to them and it almost happened to us under the rule of PT scum.

        - Serious

          That’s BS. That’s what everyone sy to me but it doesn’t work. If Venezuela could have been a powerful country, it would have been since centuries and milleniums.

          What education ? Like Pink Floyd says, you need no education. The difference between Venezuelans and Germans is that germans is not waiting for the gov to create something.

          I’m sorry but, without socialism, Venezuela will become like Colombia (prostituion and drug dealing). Why aren’t Germans drug dealers ???

        - Daniel Castro

          Centuries ago Venezuela belong to natives which didn’t even know what oil is, then came Spain, and it was indeed a powerful territory, and then came Simon Bolivar and the independency movement wsa a complete fail, with the fall of the spanish empire they were at the mercy of english and muricans, but is is old history already, Chave could have made venezuela stronger had he opted for a nationalist policy instead of stupid socialism., he had the power like noone ever had,

          Pink Floyd says you need no education when they must surely had plenty of education.

          Sorry to say, but Colombia is much better than Venezuela, they are not flooding our borders with beggars.

        - Serious

          Colombia is shit my friend.

          You need no education.

        - Daniel Castro

          If Colombia is shit what Venezuela is?

          Colombia > Venezuela

        - Serious

          Colombia is USA slave. So, USA doesn’t target Colombia. Just like Saudi Arabia.
          And what is the basis of comparison ? What Colombia create unless drug dealing and prostitutes ?? Nothing.

        - Daniel Castro

          Venezuela had the FULL support of Brazil, they had oil, they had the support of China and Russia, and they failed!

          And USA never stopped buying oil from them.

          I’m sorry, you are just wrong.

        - Serious

          Oil is only energy. You don’t need support of opportunists russians or chinese. You need your own support and freedom. That’s only what you need.

        - Daniel Castro

          So you say you need no support, then you say big bad muricans hurt venezuela with their flimsy boycott.

          Pick one, you need support or you don’t need support.

          Venezuela had the full support of Brazil, they were never under territorial blockade, could trade with China and Russia and all the leftist countries in South America, which were many back then, and even then they failed.

          If USA is so powerfull it can break countries just by not selling them some stuff, then they really shouldn’t have challenged the muricans. But of course you are wrong.

        - Serious

          Americans are powerful because they can build anything. They don’t need to sell oil to have airplanes, porcessors or whatever. They don’t need to ask for foreigners to build oil facilities.

          That’s exaclty why Germans and Europeans are a danger for Americans. Because Germans can build what Americans do and even better.

        - Daniel Castro

          That’s why venezuela should have invested in industrialization instead of giving away money to vagabonds.

          We brazilians have our own oil industry, we make our own airplanes and we can make anything if only there is some interest.

          You europeans think to highly of yourselves.

        - Serious

          I though, you were living under “socialsm”. So, how it can be ? XD.

          Well, in Europe, socialism worked until non europeans people begin to flew in these countries. Because it’s about people.

        - Daniel Castro

          Petrobras was made by Getulio Vargas, he was fascist, Embraer was created during the military dictatorship. Socialdemcorats(PT and PSDB) destroyed a lot of our industry, but still much thing survived from before the “democracy”.

        - Serious

          Brazil is too big to be a democratic country. Embraer was created by a Frecnhman. French knows a lot about aircraft. they are bosses in this area.

        - Daniel Castro

          So what? That’s how you do it, when you don’t know how to do something you can try to learn for yourself or you can ask to someone to teach you. The fact is Embraer is brazilian industry, and if a french helped us creating it doesn’t matter, it was a brazilian who created the 1st pratical airplane anyway.

          We can do anything, so can venezuelans, but for that they must change this loser bolivarianist mentality.

        - Serious

          Nobody teaches the French. If you want to be the leader, you must create yourselfs.

          You can check german creations. You easily understand why they are super powerful. Give Brazil to Germans, it become the first power.

        - Daniel Castro

          “Nobody teaches the French”

          https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont

          You were saying…

          When you know someone is vastly superior to you in a field of knowledge it is just stupid trying to reinvent the wheel, look at the chinese, they might not have the highest technology in the world but they are getting there, much because of technology transfer.

        - Serious

          Sad that this man needed to go to France to create something. At that time the excuse was also socialism ??? Don’t be mistaken, dispite all the efforts, Chinese are nowhere near european tech.

        - Daniel Castro

          He was french-brazilian, but he was raised here, his creativity comes from Brazil.

          Yes, you need to be immersed in a technologic center to develop something, and back then Brazil was a pre-industrialized country, so he needed to go to France, reality today is different.

          Yes, Chinese are not as developed as Europe, but they are getting there fast, and with europe decaying they might surpass you before you think.

          I agree with you though, at some point you have to develop your own technology, but it makes no sense to reinvent the wheel.

        - Serious

          China is very poluted. Chinese are very hard working people but they are not like continental Europeans. It is no sens to pollute your country for money because your country is way more important than money. And depolluting will cost way more money.

          I believe only in facts. Chinese can’t even made a trusted car.

        - Daniel Castro

          Europe was once very poluted, and Europe also don’t have such a high population in a relatively small area.

          European cars are way too expensive, one european car can buy 10 chinese cars, or even more. Quantity is a quality in its own right.

        - Serious

          That’s the difference between quality and quantity. With Chinese, you don’t know what you buy. People prefer to buy an expensive car but secure one rather than a rolling coffin.

          Do you prefer to take an european aircraft or a chinese one ???

          When Chinese will start to understand what is important, they will be a challenger.

          Never buy plushes from China. You can develop allergies. Also, they put garbage inside plushes.

        - Serious

          Also, this person is Frecnh because his father was french.

        - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

          Esse cara é doido não sabe o que fala não!

        - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

          Why so wrong, Serious? Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica (Embraer) was created as a government-owned corporation.

        - Serious

          Max Holste, a Frenchman created the first Embraer.

        - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

          You are absolutely right!

- Serious

  It has nothing to do with corruption or whatever. It has to do with the fact that Brazil wanted to be independent nation just like Argentina.

  - Otto Heinrich Wehmann

    He is the chief of the biggest corruption scheme ever created with all the other parties and destroy MY country just look for the economy in the last 3 years.

  - Daniel Castro

    Brazil independent like Argentina?! LOL

    We are independent, unlike Argentina where everyone has dollars and dream they are europeans. Most brazilians live their lives as if there is no world outside our country, it’s only the burgeois in the big cities that like to suck cock of anglos because they are acculturated.

    Lula is a globalist, big pal of Sarkozy and Obama, he never did anything to challenge the zionist world order, he only used BRICS as a PR stunt, like the World Cup and Olympics.

    - Serious

      My friend, it has nothing to do with thinking you are Europeans or whatever.

      Brazil can’t challenge the NWO. To challenge the NWO, you need people like Germans.

      - Daniel Castro

        What I’m saying is brazilian people is so independent they live their lives without even being aware of NWO, they don’t want to be europeans and don’t live complaining like the people of argentina, most people are happy with what they have, this is the real independency.

        I think it would be better if the brazilian people wakes up, but even as we are we are not slaves of NWO like you europeans.

        Germans are complete slaves brainwashed since birth to hate themselves, for them it is easier to suicide than to challenge zionism.

        - Serious

          Every brazilian or argentinian president who speak agaisnt NWO will be ejected. Even if the people doesn’t agree, they will be ejected. So, no independence as the brazilian or argentinian people don’t decide.

          And, a non zionism president can’t do shit because, he doesn’t have the people to challenge NWO.

        - Daniel Castro

          When did Lula speak against NWO? When did Dilma spoke against NWO?

          You don’t know what you’re talking.

          And you’re also wrong, independency is not about what president is in power, independency is a state of mind.

        - Serious

          I remember Dilma speaking against israel. Kritchner made ally with Iran and said in UN that she dioesn’t beleive in ISIS craps nor 9/11. After that, they were kicked out by mysteious corruption affairs.

        - Daniel Castro

          She might have spoken in favour of palestine, as they are indeed part of socialist routine narrative, but that’s it, she never did anything against ISrael or israeli interests, and in matter of fact she is jewish.

          She also condemned Assad when the syrian war started.

          The fact PT now is resorting to Qatar and Saudi Arabia to find support in favour of Lula tells us wonders.

        - Serious

          She can do nothing because Brazilians can do nothing. As if the new Brazilian president will do something agaisnt israel. XD.

        - Daniel Castro

          There is a big chance Bolsonaro wins and he is like Trump, so we will be as pro-Israel as it gets.

          But this my friend, is not because we are slave, it’s a choice we have to do because the left gives us no alternative, the brazilian people couldn’t care less about ISrael or the middle east, we have our own war to fight here and rightwingers are the only ones intending to fight for the people, lefties are all on the side of criminal gangs and narcoguerrilas.

        - Serious

          There is no left or right.

        - Daniel Castro

          Yes, there is, even if only as a matter of designation.

        - Serious

          There is no differences between left and right. Just a tool to manipulate people.

        - Daniel Castro

          That’s what you say.

- Serious

  Tell me why Germany, under socialism, worked ? Because, people don’t seem to understand that it’s not socialsism or capitalism or whatever that counts. What matter is THE PEOPLE.

  Why doesn’t North Korea or Vietnam collapsing ??? Because, they are Asians.

  So, that a simple fact that nobody seems to understand.

  - Daniel Castro

    Waht german under socialism, you’re talking of the time you were enslaved to the Soviet Union?

    - Serious

      Obviously, under the Soviets, Germans were not the rulers.

      - Daniel Castro

        Complete different realities, the type of socialism you’re talking was never applied in South America, and they never intended to apply it also.

        Eastern socialism is completely different from this bolivarianist crap we have here, it is much more brutal, but it works, at least until the point the society want to evolve even more.

    - Thomas Wolsey

      During Hitler leadership german as socialist.
      (National Socialist German Workers’ Party)

      - Daniel Castro

        Well, that worked wonders…