Bulletin 140 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/8/2018 – 10:30 PM
1. July 8th, 2018 will be marked in Brazilian history as the date in which the last mask in the judicial persecution of ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fell. After a favorable decision for a habeas corpus, filed by Congressmen Paulo Pimenta (PT-Rio Grande do Sul), Paulo Texeira (PT-São Paulo) and Wadih Damous (PT-Rio de Janeiro), who is also on Lula’s defense team, was issued for Lula by the 4th Federal Regional Court (TRF-4), the Operation Car Wash task force, led by Sérgio Moro, committed a series of criminal maneuvers to block the ex-President’s release. With this move it was definitively revealed to the world that Lula is a political prisoner, held by sectors of the Brazilian Judiciary. “What is happening in Curitiba is staggering. Operation Car Wash is acting like a criminal organization and Sergio Moro is acting like a bush captain,” said Damous. According to Pimenta, the Federal Police kidnapped Lula by disobeying the judicial order for his release. “What Operation Car Wash said to Brazil today was the following, ‘even if there is a judicial decision determining that Lula should be released, we will not respect it.’ Moro committed a crime, as did the federal police deputy,” he said.
2. The first decision to release Lula was issued early this morning by Chief Judge Rogério Favreto from the TRF-4. Sergio Moro, who is on vacation in Portugal, showed no modesty in putting on his militant anti-PT shirt and issuing a dispatch in which he stated that the Chief Judge, his superior in the hierarchy of the Brazilian judiciary, did not have the legal authority to free the ex-President. Afterwords, Chief Justice Gebran Neto, Operation Car Wash rapporteur in the TRF-4, revoked the order to free Lula. Shortly afterwords, around 4 PM, Favreto issued a new Judicial order which pointed out the illegality of his colleague’s decision and ordered the immediate release of the political prisoner in Curitiba. At that point the Federal Police postponed obeying the order and, as evening set in, the President of the TRF-4 dispatched an illegal order to maintain Lula in the condition of political prisoner.
3. This afternoon, the Lawyers for Democracy Collective filed a motion In the 4th Regional Federal Court requesting the flagrant arrest of Judge Sergio Moro and the Curitiba Federal Police Superintendent, Roberval Drex. Moro, on vacation in Portugal and therefore without jurisdiction in his own Court, ordered the Federal Police to disobey an order emanating from the TRF-4 to release Lula, who has been a political prisoner since April 7th. Read more: http://www.pt.org.br/advogados-e-advogadas-pela-democracia-pedem-prisao-de-moro/
4. Maranhão governor Flavio Dino (PC do B) who passed in first place in the same civil service examination with Judge Sergio Moro, explained in a didactic manner how Lula’s persecution has created legal anarchy and a judicial free for all. He also explained why Moro and the Chief Judge from the TRF-4, João Pedro Gebran, acted in an illegal manner to block Lula from being freed. “At a time when there is still some consistency and coherence in Brazilian law, only the TRF-4 could revoke the order for habeas corpus issued by a Chief Judge. This ultra-politization of justice has led us to a deplorable free for all,” he said. Read more here: http://www.pt.org.br/dino-moro-e-gabran-nao-temo-poder-para-impedir-liberdade/
5. Starting this morning, July 8th, when Chief Judge Rogério Favreto’s decision to immediately release Lula in an urgent manner was announced, popular demonstrations were organized across the country demanding that freedom for the ex-president was guaranteed in the quickest manner possible. Activists came to the ABC Metallurgical Workers Union headquarters in São Bernardo and to the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba and also held acts in several state capitals to demand freedom for Lula, #LulaLivre and to criticize persecution by sectors of the Judiciary against the ex-President. Read more: http://www.pt.org.br/brasileiros-vao-as-ruas-por-lula-livre-e-contra-arbitrariedades/
6. In a note signed by PT National President, Senator Gleisi Hoffmann (Paraná), the Workers Party condemns the shameless negotiations against releasing Lula made by Judge Sergio Moro, TRF-4 President Thompson Flores, Chief Judge João Pedro Gebran Neto (a long time personal friend of Moro’s) and the officers on the weekend shift at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba. “Why don’t they just go ahead and arrest the entire Brazilian people?” is the title of the note which denounces the accomplices in violence against the rights of Lula and against Democracy. Read the note here: http://www.pt.org.br/nota-do-pt-por-que-nao-prendem-logo-o-povo-brasileiro/
Bulletin 140 – People’s Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy
Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil – 7/8/2018 – 10:30 PM
