MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Lula challenges conviction arguing “proven bias” of Brazil's next Justice minister
Lula's plea came days after president-elect Bolsonaro announced Judge Sergio Moro as Brazil's next justice minister. Ex Brazilian president Lula da Silva has challenged his corruption conviction, arguing that the judge behind his conviction has “proven his bias” by accepting a cabinet post under a political rival. The petition filed on Monday with Brazil's highest court asks Lula, who is currently serving a 12-year sentence, to be freed and his conviction overturned.
Lula's plea came days after president-elect Bolsonaro announced Judge Sergio Moro as Brazil's next justice minister.
Lula's lawyers have long argued that Moro was biased and that charges against the former president were trumped up to keep him from running for the post again. Lula was leading the run-up to the deeply polarized election this year, but his conviction in a corruption case prevented him from running.
Brazil's “Clean Slate” law forbids people with serious criminal convictions from standing for office within eight years of being found guilty.
Moro agreed to be Jair Bolsonaro's justice minister, saying his new position will allow him to strengthen his battle against corruption.
“The perspective of implementing a strong anti-corruption and anti-organized crime agenda, with respect for the constitution, the law and rights, led me to take this decision,” Moro said in a statement on Sunday.
“This means in practice to consolidate the advances against crime and corruption in recent years,” he said.
Lula's Workers' Party (PT) expressed its anger and disappointment over the decision.
“Moro's partiality was always blatant,” the party tweeted. “The attempt to influence elections has taken place since 2014. The appointment of Sergio Moro as minister of Bolsonaro only shows the political interests of the minister.”
Moro has been hailed for investigating what came to be known as the “Car Wash” corruption scandal, launched in 2014, which centered on Brazi'ls state-run oil company, Petrobras, and involved 11 countries.
The probe uncovered elaborate schemes in which construction companies received bloated contracts and then kicked back billions of dollars in bribes to politicians and other government officials for more than a decade.
The investigation led to the jailing of some of Brazil's biggest names, including Lula, who was convicted for trading favors with construction company, Grupo OAS, for the promise of a beachfront apartment.
Lula began serving his sentence in April this year, which effectively denied him another run for the office of the president.
Moro is now expected to oversee the federal and highway police, the penitentiary system, immigration and several other agencies employing thousands of people.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules-
-
-
Read all comments““proven his bias” by accepting a cabinet post under a political rival”.
Nov 06th, 2018 - 09:12 pm +1“proven his bias” ? Hilarious.
Let's see :
When did Moro sentence Lula to 9 years in jail ? in July 2017 .....14 months ago.
When did the TRF-4, which Moro is not part of, reconfirm the sentence and increased it to 12 years ? in January 2018.....9 months ago.
Where and when exactly did Moro and Bolsonaro accidentally meet for the first and only time ?
At the airport, while waiting for their respectice flights, in March 2018.....7 months ago.
When did Bolsonaro invite Moro to be Minister of Justice in the new government ?
A few weeks ago.
So, the Lularat is going to try to convince the STF, that when Moro convicted him, 14 months ago, that Moro and Bolsonaro were already conspiring to put him away ?
Ridiculous, but that is exactly how the PT operates, invent some BS and then explore it politically.....so predictable.
Will Lullu & the other crooks be made to return the stolen wealth or will Brazil continue to waste more money to keep these crooks imprisoned - that's the question!
Nov 07th, 2018 - 03:26 pm +1:o))
Nov 08th, 2018 - 06:48 pm +1Good question.....no answer.....yet.
WHEN / IF Bolsonaro opens up the BNDES' black box, I suspect that the investigation will bring a lot of sh*t to the surface.....billions in loans to foreign countries (mainly those governed by Lula's 'friends'), at interest rates unheard of, or free-of-interest - remember the link that circulated 2 or 3 years ago, referring to “as obras concluídas do PT - fora do Brasil” ?? - , the pardoning of some African countries' debts with Brazil, amounting to a few 100 million dollars ? A gift from Lula, at the Brazilians' expense.
There's enough corruption in Brazil to keep its prosecutors & judges occupied for centuries.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!