MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilians take to the streets to protest corruption and support Judges

In the heart of Brasilia demonstrators express support for the Supreme Tribunal

Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to demand a tough stance against corruption and celebrate the recent sentencing of influential politicians who were involved in money scandals during the first government of President Lula da Silva.

In Brasilia demonstrators organized a ten kilometres marathon along the central avenue of the Ministries where all the main federal buildings are located including the Supreme Tribunal which recently condemned to years of jails 25 politicians and business people linked to the corruption scandals made public in 2005.

Many of the participants, estimated in 12.000 expressed support for the Tribunal with banners and songs in which they praised the Justices and called on them to continue with their tough and intransigent policy towards corruption.

“We are celebrating the consistent advances that have been seen in the fight against corruption, but we also want that fight not to cease and rather to deepen” said journalist Ziller Henrique who works for the Public Accounts Office and one of the organizers of the competition.

Similar demonstrations took place in Sao Paulo and other regional capitals in which the purpose was also support for the Supreme Tribunal and the celebration for the so called “trial of the century”.

The trial took off last 2 August and the Supreme Tribunal concluded that the ruling Workers Party organized in 2002 a network of corruption which helped finance political campaigns and bribe members of four parties to ensure a congressional majority which the government of President Lula da Silva was missing.

Of the 37 suspects on the box, 23 were declared guilty, among which the former cabinet chief of Lula da Silva Jose Dirceu, the former president of the Workers Party Jose Genoino and the former treasurer Delubio Soares.