Judge Orders Release Of Former Brazilian President

By Spy Uganda

A judge in Brazil ordered for the release of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from prison, where he had spent over a year.

Lula was released from prison moments after Judge Danilo Pereira Junior issued an order for his immediate release.

Lula has been imprisoned since April 2018 after he was convicted of corruption and money laundering, charges which stemmed from his alleged purchase of a beach-front property in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. 

The former president wound up behind bars after he was swept up in the highly publicized “Carwash” corruption scandal, which also affected several politicians, including fellow ex-Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

But he regained his freedom as a result of a Thursday Supreme Court ruling which ruled that  it is unconstitutional to imprison defendants who are still attempting to appeal their convictions.

 The court’s 6-5 vote found that an individual can only be imprisoned after all appeal options to higher courts have been fully exhausted. Pereira Junior’s decision indicated that federal police had to comply with urgency and release Lula immediately.

After Lula’s release, Maria do Rosário Nunez, a member of Congress from Brazil’s Workers’ Party stated that; “This restores a sense of hope in Brazil.”
He added that “Lula’s freedom can offer a rebuttal to the rigid views they are trying to impose in the country.

Following his release, Lula told his crowd of supporters that the support of his followers was what was needed in order for democracy to thrive. He also called for a rally to be held at a metal workers union in Sao Paolo on Saturday.​​

Lula, who ruled Brazil between 2003 and 2010, had initially been sentenced behind bars for a period of 12 years and one months;  although court later reduced his sentence to eight years and 10 months in April.

The case that allowed the release of Lula was brought forth by two political parties and the Brazilian Bar Association, which both argued that the country’s mandatory prison rule violated the constitution by not respecting the presumption of innocence as individuals adhere to the courts’ appeals process.

He hoped to run for office again in  the 2018 presidential election but his 2017 bars from contesting for any political office again.