They canceled all sentences related to Lula da Silva’s Lava Jato: he could run again as a candidate in the elections

Brazilian Supreme Court Minister Edson Fachin on Monday overturned all first-instance sentences related to Operation Lava Jato against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is due to be tried in federal courts.

Fachin’s ruling refers to three processes in which Lula was tried by the Curitiba Magistrates’ Court, headed by then-judge Sergio Moro, and said the tribunal did not have “legal jurisdiction.” required to analyze them at the time.

“Although the issue of competition has already been raised indirectly, this is the first time that the argument is in procedural condition to be examined”, indicates a passage of the text, which underlines the fact that the decision is procedural and no ‘not express himself on the merits of the charges. The cases will be sent to the “Federal District Judicial Section”.

In this way, Lula recovered his political rights which he had lost in 2018, when he was sentenced by a second instance court in connection with the case in which he is accused of having received a luxury triplex. in the municipality of Guarujá as a bribe.

For this reason, Lula was imprisoned for 19 months. Due to this and another second-instance conviction, he was unable to participate in that year’s elections, the polls of which he led and which were ultimately won by Jair Bolsonaro. He was finally released on November 8, 2019 after the Supreme Court ruled that prison sentences would not begin to be served until the accused had exhausted all available remedies.

Now, Lula is hoping the Supreme Court will rule on an appeal based on a series of wiretaps – obtained illegally by The Intercept media outlet – which he says prove prosecutors and Moro prepared the case without separating the two. roles of accuser and judge.

“I hope they make the decision to quash all the lies told against me, all the processes against me. If they want, they can restart them, but I don’t want to continue being the victim of a scoundrel, ”he said of it.

The move comes weeks after Lula anticipated his willingness to face current President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election “if necessary”. “Do not doubt that I will be available,” he said on February 21 in an interview with the news portal. Twitter.

“If we consider that it is possible to defeat Bolsonaro, and if the comrades of the PT and other parties think about it, I will be ready for it (contesting the elections),” said the former president, who also ruled out that his 75-year-old could be an obstacle to his return to politics.

News in development …