MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva will remain in Curitiba until pending appeals are filed and judged

The former president is being held in a cell within the federal police headquarters in Curitiba

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a lower court decision to transfer imprisoned former President Lula da Silva from the southern city of Curitiba to a penitentiary in the state of Sao Paulo.

Lula, as the populist leader is known, was convicted in 2017 of taking a bribe from an engineering firm in return for help landing contracts with state-run oil company Petrobras.

After losing an appeal, he was arrested in April of last year, following a dramatic standoff between police and his supporters in Greater Sao Paulo. He was taken to Curitiba, where the corruption probe was based, to serve a 12-year sentence.

The former president is being held in a cell within the federal police headquarters in Curitiba. However, police complained in a motion that overseeing Lula’s imprisonment was diverting significant time and resources, as well as inconveniencing city residents.

A federal judge authorized his transfer and a separate judge in Sao Paulo state decided later that Lula would serve the remainder of his sentence at a penitentiary in the town of Tremembé, 170 kilometers from Sao Paulo.

Ten of the 11 justices on the Supreme Court, however, overruled the transfer and decided Lula should stay in Curitiba until they can judge other pending appeals filed by his lawyers seeking his release.

Lula, 73, has been convicted in one other bribery case and has been indicted in seven other corruption investigations.

Brazil’s first working class president served two terms from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality during a commodities boom. The corruption conviction damaged his reputation, and he was prohibited from running in Brazil’s 2018 election, even as he retains a sizeable base of supporters.