Lula’s convictions in Car Wash cases overturned
Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin on Monday (Mar. 8) decided to make void all convictions of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in cases tried as part of Operation Car Wash. In the ruling, the justice understands that the 13th Federal Court in Curitiba had no jurisdiction to try the accusations. The move rids the former leader of any electoral court restrictions and makes it possible for Lula to run for any public office.
The move nullifies the convictions in the cases involving the triplex apartment complex in coastal Guarujá, São Paulo, with a sentence of eight years and ten months in prison, and that of the Atibaia ranch, over which Lula had received 17 years in prison. The proceedings will be forwarded to federal court authorities in Brasília for reconsideration.
The decision was made as Fachin recognized that the accusations by the Car Wash task force against Lula were not directly linked to the amounts siphoned off at Petrobras. Thus, in compliance to court precedents, the justice submitted the cases to federal authorities in Brasília.
“Rapporteur [Fachin], taking into account the progress of the matter at the 2nd panel in similar cases, concluded that the same understanding must be applied to the former president, thus considering that the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba was not the natural judge of the cases,” the note issued by Fachin’s office reads.
The conviction in the triplex apartment case was pronounced by then Judge Sergio Moro. In the Atibaia ranch case, Lula was sentenced by Judge Gabriela Hardt.
The overturn also affects the case on the allegedly irregular donations to Instituto Lula. Proceedings are still ongoing at the 13th court and should also be submitted to Brasília.
Defense
In a note, Lula’s counsel declared it received the decision with serenity. Lawyers Cristiano Zanin and Valeska Teixeira Zanin Martins stated they have always sustained that the accusations against the erstwhile president never had a connection with the embezzlement at Petrobras.
“Thus, the decision stating the lack of jurisdiction of the Federal Court in Curitiba comes as the acknowledgment that we have always been right in this long legal battle, in which we never had to change our principles to bring to light the nullity of the cases and the innocence of ex-President Lula, as well as the lawfare being mobilized against him,” the note says.
