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Brazil's Lula faces jail for corruption after supreme court ruling
Brazil's Lula ordered to surrender after court backs jailing
(about 2 hours later)
Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces a jail term after the supreme court rejected a request to allow him to remain free while appealing against a 12-year conviction on corruption charges.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s former president, has been ordered to turn himself in to the authorities to serve the 12-year jail sentence he was given after being convicted of corruption.
The ruling in the early hours of Thursday marked an extraordinary turn of events for Brazil’s most popular politician, who left office in 2010 with an approval rating of more than 80%.
Lula had pleaded with the country’s supreme court to remain free until he had exhausted all his appeals, but the judges ruled by six to five against his request after 10 hours of debate. The decision will deal a serious blow to the political survival of Brazil’s first working-class president and potentially deepen divisions in the country, which has been racked by episodes of political violence.
Supreme court judges ruled against him by six to five after a marathon session. The decision could end Lula’s political career and deepen divisions in the country, which has been racked by recent episodes of political violence.
Lula says the corruption charges against him are politically motivated and designed to stop him running for president again in October’s election. Despite his conviction and six separate pending corruption trials, he is leading in opinion polls. His Workers’ party (PT) described the ruling as “a tragic day for democracy and Brazil”.
Later on Thursday, Federal Judge Sergio Moro ordered Lula to turn himself in to police by late Friday afternoon
The case against Lula is part of the “Car Wash” corruption investigation, which has led to the jailing of dozens of top executives and politicians and exposed bitter divisions in the country.
Lula has said he is innocent and the charges are politically motivated to prevent him from running for president again in the October election. In an official statement, his Worker’s party described the ruling as “a tragic day for democracy and Brazil”. The case against him is part of Brazil’s sprawling “Car Wash” investigation, which has led to the jailing of dozens of top executives and politicians.
Lula’s successor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed from office amid a scandal and economic crisis. The current president, Michel Temer, avoided standing trial before the supreme court last year when allies in congress shielded him from charges of corruption, obstructing justice and links to organised crime. Polls put his approval rating at 5%, but he has hinted at a run in October regardless.
Lula oversaw a period of sustainable economic growth and his social policies helped lift millions of people out of poverty. He was leading opinion polls before the election, despite his conviction and six separate pending corruption trials.
Lula oversaw a period of sustained economic growth and his social policies helped lift millions of people out of poverty, but his legacy took a hit as the economy struggled under Rousseff and corruption allegations emerged against him and his leftist PT, which held power from 2003 to 2016.
Recently, however, Lula became a more polarising figure as the economy struggled and multiple corruption allegations against him and his leftist party emerged, creating widespread anger amongst the electorate. According to the polling institute Datafolha, 53% want him jailed.
Lula’s supporters, made up of groups of leftwing social movements and trade union members, gathered in the capital, Brasilia, on Wednesday, a night after thousands of anti-Lula protesters took to the streets of 100 Brazilian cities.
The decision is a serious blow to the political survival of Brazil’s first working-class president, whose career from a factory shop floor to high office is sinking in the corruption scandals that have rocked the political establishment and especially his party, which held power from 2003 until 2016.
Douglas Grandini, who works at an estate agency and was on an anti-Lula protest, said: “The crisis that Brazil is in today comes from the bad planning and corruption of [politicians’] mandate. We’ll take 10 years to recover.”
Brazilian society remains deeply divided after Lula’s successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached and removed from office amid a corruption scandal and an economic crisis. Her successor, the current president Michel Temer, avoided standing trial before the supreme court last year when allies in congress shielded him from charges of corruption, obstruction of justice and organised crime. Latest polls put his approval rating at 5%, but he has hinted that he will run on October regardless.
Lula was found guilty last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes worth 3.7m reais (£790,000) from the OAS construction company – the amount prosecutors said the firm spent refurbishing a beach flat for Lula in return for his help in winning contracts with the state-run oil company Petrobras. In January, an appeal court unanimously upheld his conviction and increased the sentence to 12 years.
Lula’s supporters, made up of groups of leftwing social movements and trade union members, had gathered in the capital, Brasilia, on Wednesday. Thousands of anti-Lula protesters took to the streets of 100 Brazilian cities the night before.
Under Brazilian electoral law, a candidate is banned from elected office for eight years if found guilty of a crime. The head of the PT said Lula would run for election in spite of the court ruling, leaving the decision about the validity of his candidature in the hands of the highest electoral court.
“The crisis that Brazil is in today comes from the bad planning and corruption of [politicians’] mandate, we’ll take 10 years to recover,” said Douglas Grandini, a trained economist who works at a real estate brokerage who attended an protest anti-Lula protest.
The verdict was delivered by the supreme court president, Cármen Lúcia, shortly after midnight after a session that lasted more than 10 hours. Lúcia’s vote against Lula was decisive, tipping the score six v five against the former president.
The decision of when to issue the arrest warrant now lies with Sergio Moro, the judge who convicted Lula, hailed by some as a tough-on-crime, anti-corruption hero but accused by others of overreach.
The vote was overshadowed by tension after the commander of Brazil’s armed forces, Gen Eduardo Villas Bôas, tweeted on Tuesday that the army “repudiates impunity” and is “attentive to its institutional missions.”.
The comments rattled many in Brazil, which from 1964-1985 was under a military dictatorship characterised by oppression, censorship and grave human rights abuses when thousands were killed or tortured by the regime.
Amnesty International’s Brazil director, Jurema Werneck, said: “It is greatly disturbing that the army commander appears to be pressuring and threatening the Brazilian supreme court.”
Lula was found guilty last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes worth 3.7m reais (£790,000) from OAS, the amount of money prosecutors said the construction company spent refurbishing a beach apartment for Lula in return for his help winning contracts with the state-run oil company Petrobras.
In January, an appeal court unanimously upheld his conviction and increased the prison sentence to 12 years.
Under Brazilian electoral law, a candidate is forbidden from running for elected office for eight years after being found guilty of a crime. Some exemptions have been made in the past and the ultimate decision in Lula’s case would be made by the highest electoral court if Lula officially files to be a candidate for the October election.
