Several thousand supporters of former Brazilian president Lula Inacio da Silva rallied on Sunday outside the prison where he has now been held for a year, as they demanded his release and chanted slogans against current leader Jair Bolsonaro.
Ex Brazilian president Lula da Silva is back in prison after being let out to attend his grandson Arthur's funeral. The seven-year-old died of meningitis on Friday. Lula was allowed to go to the burial in São Paulo on Saturday, where supporters gathered to greet him. Lula is serving 12 years in prison on corruption charges.
Embattled former Brazilian president Lula da Silva on Friday released an open letter calling for “justice” as he affirmed he is the victim of “unjustified acts of violence.”“Justice, it is only justice what I expect for me and everybody within the framework of in-force democratic rule of law,” Lula said a day after he was sworn-in as the chief of staff of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and a judge in that country issued an injunction blocking his appointment.
Protests erupted in Brazilian cities on Wednesday after President Dilma Rousseff named her predecessor Lula da Silva chief of staff and a taped telephone conversation fed opposition claims the appointment was meant to shield Lula from prosecution.
Brazilian construction tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht, 47, was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years in prison for corruption and money laundering in the giant Petrobras embezzlement scandal shaking Latin America's biggest country Petrobras in what prosecution has identified as Operation Car Wash.
Senior judges in Brazil voiced concern over the detention of former President Lula da Silva, even as they threw their support behind the sweeping corruption investigation that threatens to topple his embattled successor. Lula’s three hours of questioning in police custody on Friday was the highest profile development in the two-year probe focused on state oil firm Petrobras.