Brazil:The verdict against Lula overturned
Ex-President Lula da Silva in November 2020.
(Photo: AMANDA PEROBELLI / REUTERS)
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The left ex-president could run again in an election – against the current president Bolsonaro.
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A Brazilian constitutional judge has overturned the sentences against ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and thus opened the door for a potential candidacy for the popular left-wing politician in the election next year. Judge Edson Fachin surprisingly denied jurisdiction to hear corruption allegations against Lula in a court in the city of Curitiba on Monday. Instead, federal courts in the capital Brasilia would have to reopen the case.
Fachin’s decision has yet to be reviewed by the entire Supreme Court. Lula is allowed to apply for a political office again. He could therefore challenge the current President Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. Brazil’s attorney general announced that it would appeal against the constitutional judge’s decision.
Lula had ruled Latin America’s most populous country and largest economy between 2003 and 2011. The left initiated popular social reforms. In 2018, however, he was convicted of bribery. He spent a year and a half behind bars before the Supreme Court ruled that he could appeal the verdict without serving in jail. Lula has always protested his innocence and described the allegations as politically motivated.
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