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Brazil Supreme Court Paves Way for Release of Ex-President ‘Lula’ Ex-President ‘Lula’ Ordered Freed From Prison in Brazil After Supreme Court Ruling
(about 5 hours later)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil may be released from prison as early as Friday, after a ruling from Brazil’s Supreme Court gave defendants the right to remain free while they exhaust appeals for criminal convictions. RIO DE JANEIRO — Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was ordered released from prison Friday, after the Supreme Court issued a broad ruling that allows defendants to remain free while their appeals are making their way through the courts.
In a six-to-five ruling handed down late Thursday, the court reversed itself on an issue that has far-reaching implications for corruption cases and could affect thousands of inmates, notably Mr. da Silva, who is universally known as “Lula.” Though Mr. da Silva cannot run for office unless he can get his criminal conviction overturned, his mere release could upend Brazil’s politics by pitting him as a fiery, leftist rival to President Jair Bolsonaro, whose far-right policies have left the country deeply polarized.
Previously, the court had established that a defendant could be ordered to start serving a sentence once a conviction was upheld by the first appeals court. That gave prosecutors valuable leverage to strike plea deals. Federal Judge Danilo Pereira Júnior ordered Mr. da Silva’s release on Friday shortly after 4 p.m.
Now, defendants may remain free throughout an appeals process that can take several years. The charismatic Mr. da Silva, universally known as “Lula,” is widely expected to plunge back into the political fray, and the former president’s supporters hailed the court decision as a victory. Since he began serving a 12-year sentence in April of last year, they have campaigned at home and abroad for his release, calling Mr. da Silva a political prisoner.
Supporters of Mr. da Silva, 74, a leftist leader who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010, celebrated the ruling as a triumph as they rallied outside the police building in the southern city of Curitiba where he has been imprisoned since April of last year. “This restores a sense of hope in Brazil,” said Maria do Rosário Nunez, a member of Congress from Mr. da Silva’s Workers’ Party. “Lula’s freedom can offer a rebuttal to the rigid views they are trying to impose in the country,” she added, referring to the current government.
The court’s decision does not mean that he can return to power; unless he can get his criminal conviction overturned on appeal, he is barred from running for office. Thursday’s 6-to-5 ruling stands to affect thousands of inmates, including several high-profile people convicted on corruption charges. It is also expected to complicate Brazil’s efforts to root out endemic corruption: Dozens of high-profile politicians have been ensnarled in corruption cases in recent years, as the authorities unraveled complex kickbacks and campaign finance schemes.
Mr. da Silva was convicted of corruption and money laundering in July 2017 for accepting the use of a seaside apartment as part of a kickbacks scheme. He and his supporters contend that the case was manufactured to prevent him from running for a third term last year. Prosecutors say that with the Supreme Court’s decision, a reversal of a 2018 decision, they will now lose valuable leverage in corruption cases because the threat of imprisonment has given law enforcement officials valuable leverage to persuade defendants to cooperate in criminal investigations.
He was given a 12-year sentence in the apartment case and faces several other corruption charges. In February, Mr. da Silva was convicted in a second graft case and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The case that led to Thursday’s ruling was litigated by two political parties and Brazil’s bar association. The plaintiffs argued that Brazil’s 1988 Constitution — which says “no one shall be considered guilty until their case is fully adjudicated” — gives defendants the right to remain free as long as appeals are pending.
Mr. da Silva’s lawyers said in a statement on Friday that they intended to ask the judge overseeing his case to release him immediately based on the ruling. Until this week’s ruling, criminal defendants could be ordered to start serving a sentence once the first appeals court upheld their convictions. Brazil’s courts have wide discretion to imprison people convicted of violent crimes, but defendants appealing those convictions could, in theory, seek relief under the new ruling.
“Lula never committed any crime and he was a victim of ‘lawfare,’” said the lawyers, Cristiano Zanin Martins and Valeska Martins, using a term that means weaponizing the legal system against rivals. The Supreme Court last ruled on this legal question in the lead-up to Mr. da Silva’s imprisonment in 2018, following his July 2017 conviction on corruption and money laundering charges for accepting the use of a seaside apartment as part of a kickback scheme.
Thursday’s ruling stands to benefit thousands of prisoners in Brazil, including several other high-profile politicians convicted of corruption. That ruling was the final blow to Mr. da Silva’s bid to run for a third presidential term last year, paving the way for the election of Mr. Bolsonaro. Suspicion that Mr. da Silva’s prosecution had been motivated by politics became widespread after Mr. Bolsonaro appointed Judge Sérgio Moro, who handled Mr. da Silva’s case, as justice minister.
The prosecutors who handled Mr. da Silva’s case said they were disappointed by the ruling. In a statement, they said it contradicted “the sentiment of repudiation regarding impunity and the fight against corruption, which are priorities for the nation.” Earlier this year, a trove of cellphone messages exchanged by prosecutors raised fresh questions about the fairness of Mr. da Silva’s prosecution. The messages made clear, for instance, that Mr. Moro actively advised prosecutors on strategy in the case, conduct that legal analysts have called an ethical and legal transgression.
Mr. Moro said Friday in a statement that he hopes Congress will change the Constitution to allow imprisonment after an appeals court has upheld a conviction.
“At the end of the day, judges interpret the law and lawmakers make laws,” said Mr. Moro, who has disputed that he acted improperly in Mr. da Silva’s case.
Supporters of Mr. da Silva, 74, a leftist leader who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010, celebrated the ruling as a triumph as they rallied outside the police building in the southern city of Curitiba where he has been imprisoned.
“We’ll fight and have faith to obtain justice,” Representative Gleisi Hoffmann, the president of Mr. da Silva’s Workers’ Party, wrote on Twitter, posting a video montage that included photos of Mr. da Silva and the campaign to free him.
Mr. da Silva has been serving a 12-year sentence in the apartment case and faces several other corruption charges. In February, Mr. da Silva was convicted in another graft case and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Mr. da Silva left office as a hugely popular leader. He is beloved especially among poor Brazilians for programs launched during his presidency that lifted millions out of poverty, expanded access to higher education and promoted racial equality.
The prosecutors who handled Mr. da Silva’s case said they were disappointed by the court’s ruling. In a statement, they said it contradicted “the fight against corruption, which are priorities for the nation.”
Thiago de Aragão, an analyst at the Arko Advice political risk consultancy in Brasília, said the ruling would likely make investors think twice about making long-term bets in Brazil because it will inevitably be construed as a setback in the country’s fight against corruption.
“Corruption is a very significant consideration for investors who are thinking of making a long-term investment in Brazil,” he said.
Ernesto Londoño reported from Rio de Janeiro, and Letícia Casado from Recife, Brazil.