Imprisonment of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Operation Car Wash

In March 2014, an anti-corruption probe nicknamed Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato) began; it would become the largest anti-corruption operation in the history of Brazil, revealing corruption and illegal payments in procurements of public works, many related to Petrobras.^[31] Several companies – Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, Construtora OAS, among others – were accused of bribing Petrobras employees and higher-ups to only choose their companies for Petrobras procurements; the companies would then decide, among themselves, on an overpriced invoice^[a] and pocket the difference.^[31] Those bribes were initially made in cash, but would later take the form of offshore transfers or the paying off of properties.^[31]

The investigation expanded through plea deals, such that over 200 arrests and 1 thousand search and seizure operations were made, recovering over R$4 billion in total (over US$1 billion).^[31]

Societal context

Operation Car Wash coincided with an explosive growth in what was termed "antipetismo" (an "anti-Workers' Party" sentiment) around 2014.^[32] This was motivated in part by a dissatisfaction with the economy: during the latest few years of a Worker's Party government, the Brazilian real had been losing strength in the USD exchange. In March 2015, for example, it hit a decade-long high, at USD$1 = R$3.16.^[33]

Protests broke out throughout the country calling for then-president Dilma Rousseff's removal from office, be it through an impeachment or military intervention, as part of a movement called "Vem pra Rua" (lit. 'Come to the Streets').^[34] An April 2015 poll of protestors put over 90%, a majority of which were middle- and upper-class White Brazilians, believing the Workers' Party did a "great harm" to Brazil; and 37% believing minorities such as Afro-Brazilians, women and homosexuals had "too many rights" in Brazil.^[34]

Lula involvement

In March 2016, Lula was the target of a coerced summons (condução coercitiva)^[b] to testify on suspicions of receiving bribes by Construtora OAS and Odebrecht in the form of renovations of an apartment in Guarujá and a country house^[c] in Atibaia, both in the state of São Paulo.^[31] Lula was also under investigation for money received as donations and payments for lectures.^[35]

At the time, Lula criticized the coercion aspect of the summons, stating he wouldn't have refused to testify if asked.^[35] He also stated that were Federal Police to find a single real of his came from embezzlement, he didn't deserve to be a part of the Workers' Party.^[35] Lula further criticized that his lawyers were not informed of "anything", while some in the news media had prior knowledge of the intricacies of the investigation: "it's regretful that a portion of the Brazilian Judiciary is working in association with the press".^[35]

Lula also justified what was seen as suspiciously high prices for his lectures: "People wanted Lula to speak on the things he did in Brazil. The miracle he did to approve Prouni, Fies, to bring energy to 15 million of the poor in this country. That's why I became the most expensive speaker in the world, alongside Bill Clinton. [...] I don't have a mongrel complex. I know what I did for the country".^[35]

Accusation

A few days after his summons, São Paulo state's Public Prosecutor's Office (MP-SP) formally accused Lula and his wife, Marisa Letícia, of money laundering and concealment of assets.^[36] According to the prosecutors, Lula was the de facto owner of the Guarujá apartment (even if it was legally still property of the Construtora OAS company), which they argued constituted money laundering.^[37]

Crucially, the São Paulo state courts sent the accusation papers to the federal courts in Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, to be ruled on by Sergio Moro.^[38] At the time, there was already an open Supreme Federal Court case asking its deliberation on whether the prosecution would fall under the federal or São Paulo state jurisdictions.^[37]

Adding to the complaints, in September 2016, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office accused Lula and seven other people of corruption and money laundering.^[42] According to the federal prosecutors, Lula was the "supreme commander" of the corruption scheme revealed by Operation Car Wash involving three contracts between Construtora OAS and Petrobras; Lula had allegedly received almost R$4 million in bribes, paid not in money but through renovations of the Guarujá apartment and the storage of personal items.^[42] A few days later, judge Sergio Moro accepted the Prosecutor's Office complaint, and Lula officially became a defendant in Operation Car Wash.^[43]

After being charged, Lula gave a speech: "I respect the institutions and respect the laws. I'll testify as many times as they want. [...] When I infringe on the law, punish me to make me an example. But when I don't, find someone else to mess with".^[44] Lula also praised the Transparency Portal and the Lei de Acesso à Informação (lit. 'Information Access Law'), created during his and Dilma's governments; and stated: "Prove I've been corrupt and I'll surrender by foot".^[44]

By May 2017, Lula was accused of a further 10 corruption and 44 money laundering cases relating to renovations of a country house in Atibaia; though it was not owned by Lula, the prosecution argued the renovations were bribes in his benefit by the companies Odebrecht, Construtora OAS e Schahin.^[45]

Lula's lawyers filed a lawsuit against prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol,^{[non sequitur]} seeking compensation for moral damages for the press conference given by Dallagnol in 2016 in which he used a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation to explain the charges against Lula.^[46] Initially, Dallagnol was acquitted in the first and second instances, but when the case reached the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the court ordered Dallagnol to pay Lula 146,000 reais in damages.^[47] The ministers of the fourth panel of the STJ considered that Deltan Dallagnol exceeded the limits of his duties as a prosecutor by using language that discredited Lula's honor and image at the press conference, in addition to using non-technical language.^[48] The STJ ministers also considered that Dallagnol attributed to Lula facts that were not included in the complaint in the triplex case, as explained during the press conference.^[49][50] The Supreme Federal Court upheld the STJ's ruling, ordering Dallagnol to pay damages to Lula.^[51]

Defense

In 2016,^[when?] Lula's defense team submitted a request to the United Nations (UN)^{[citation needed]} to assess possible violations in the legal proceedings involving Lula under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Brazil is a signatory. In May 2018, the organization's Human Rights Committee stated that it would not take a final position until 2019, but denied precautionary measures against the former president's imprisonment.^{[52][needs update]}

Testimonials

On April 20, 2017, former OAS president Léo Pinheiro testified before Judge Sergio Moro, saying that the triplex did indeed belong to Lula and that the apartment had never been put up for sale by OAS because it was reserved for the former president. He also said that Lula himself had approved the design of the triplex and the ranch in Atibaia, which was investigated in another case. Lula's defense claimed that Léo Pinheiro was lying in order to try to secure a plea bargain.^[53] About a year earlier, the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that Léo Pinheiro had told another version of the story, in which he exonerated Lula, but prosecutors considered this version implausible.^[54]

On May 10, 2017, Lula gave his testimony to Judge Sergio Moro about the triplex case. During the interrogation, which lasted almost five hours, the former president denied owning the apartment and said he never intended to purchase it.^[55] Lula said he only visited the triplex once to see what it was like and did not want to buy it.^[56] He also said that his wife, Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, was interested in the property and that she had tried to purchase the apartment without telling him about it.^[57] The testimony had a major impact in Brazil and in the international press.^[58] In Curitiba, where the testimony was given, protesters held demonstrations for and against the former president throughout the day.^[59][60]

List of criminal cases involving Lula

The triplex case was one of several cases in which Lula was involved. Lula was a defendant in ten criminal cases in total, including some in which he has already been acquitted or convicted. Some of these criminal cases are part of Operation Car Wash.^[61]

Appeal court

On January 24, 2018, in a trial that lasted more than eight hours and received international attention, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was convicted in the second instance.^[95] The sentence was unanimous among the three judges of the 8th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4), in Porto Alegre,^[96] in favor of upholding the previous conviction, which was 9 years and 6 months in prison for passive corruption and money laundering, and further extending the former president's prison sentence for passive corruption and money laundering in the case of the triplex apartment in Guarujá.^[97] The judges decided to extend the sentence to 12 years and 1 month in prison, to be served in a closed regime.^[97] The conclusions were that Lula received a bribe from a corruption scheme at Petrobras and that this bribe was delivered in the form of an apartment. The sentence would begin after all possible appeals within the TRF-4 itself had been exhausted. Even though he was convicted, he did not immediately lose the right to run in the 2018 elections, a decision that would be up to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).^[97][98] Lula's defense team and politicians close to him questioned the speed with which his case was processed in the TRF-4. The then president of the court, Thompson Flores, responded that speed is “a common feature of this court” and that “the time taken to process the appeal does not violate the principle of equality.”^{[99][100][101]}

Preventive habeas corpus

After Lula's conviction in the second instance, the former president's defense team filed preventive habeas corpus petitions with the Superior Court of Justice and the Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent his imprisonment.

On March 6, 2018, the Superior Court of Justice unanimously rejected Lula's habeas corpus petition by a vote of 5 to 0.^[110]

On March 22, 2018, the STF accepted a request from the defense and granted the former president safe conduct—preventing Lula's arrest until the final ruling on the habeas corpus petition by the court itself on April 4.^[113] According to the STF's understanding of imprisonment in the second instance, the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region could issue an arrest warrant against the former president after the last appeal was heard in court on March 26, 2018.^[114][115] However, the “Lula principle,” as it became known, prevented the TRF-4 from enforcing the prison sentence.^[113][116] The Supreme Court's decision was criticized by federal prosecutors and prosecutors from the Car Wash task force.^[117] On the night of April 3, the then commander of the Brazilian Army (EB), General Eduardo Villas Bôas [pt], posted two messages on his Twitter profile that were understood as a threat to the STF not to grant Lula's habeas corpus petition.^{[118][119][120]} The following day, April 4, 2018, the Supreme Court, by a vote of 6 to 5, rejected Lula's habeas corpus petition, which would have allowed the former president to await his appeals in freedom after his conviction in the second instance.^[121] Justice Rosa Weber's vote was decisive in the rejection.^{[122][123][124]}

More information Against granting Habeas Corpus, In favor of granting Habeas Corpus ...

Votes of the Supreme Court justices regarding Lula's preventive habeas corpus

Against granting Habeas Corpus	In favor of granting Habeas Corpus	Ref
Edson Fachin	Gilmar Mendes	[125]
Alexandre de Moraes	Dias Toffoli
Luís Roberto Barroso	Ricardo Lewandowski
Rosa Weber	Marco Aurélio Mello
Luiz Fux	José Celso de Mello Filho
Cármen Lúcia

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Subsequent events

On April 11, 2018, the Union of Federal Police Delegates of the State of Paraná (SinDPF/PR) requested, through an official letter sent to the Superintendence of the Federal Police, the transfer of former President Lula to a location that would offer better security conditions and that would not cause inconvenience or risks to the population and Federal Police employees.^[148] According to the union, the location where the former president was being held was used to provide services to the general public, such as issuing passports and criminal records. “Thus, every day, hundreds of people who visit these facilities need, for various and relevant reasons, security and efficiency in service,” said the union.^[149][150]

On May 10, 2018, the second panel of the STF unanimously denied the former president's request for release in the virtual trial.^[151] On May 15, STJ Minister Felix Fischer [pt] rejected a new habeas corpus petition filed by Lula's defense team.^[152][153] On the same day, the triplex apartment in Guarujá attributed to Lula was sold at auction for 2.2 million reais.^[154]

On July 11, 2018, the president of the STJ, Laurita Vaz, denied 143 requests for Lula's release.^[155] These requests were not made by the former president's defense team, but by ordinary citizens.^[155]

On November 1, 2018, shortly after the presidential elections, then-judge Sérgio Moro accepted an invitation from President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to serve as his Minister of Justice in the new administration.^[156] To take up the position of Minister of Justice, Moro stepped down as judge of Operation Car Wash.^[156] Lula's defense filed a habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Court questioning the act.^[157] In the petition, the defense argued that Moro's acceptance of the position of Minister of Justice under Bolsonaro demonstrated that the former judge had not acted impartially in Lula's case.^[157]

On December 19, 2018, Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurélio Mello granted an injunction ordering that all prisoners convicted in the second instance and with appeals pending in court should be released.^[158] The measure could have freed Lula from prison, and on the same day, the former president's defense team requested his release.^[159] However, on the same day, the president of the STF, Dias Toffoli, suspended the injunction.^[160] Toffoli argued that the issue of imprisonment after conviction in the second instance should be analyzed by the full STF in a session scheduled for 2019.^[160]

On January 29, 2019, Lula's brother, Genival Inácio da Silva, known as Vavá, died of cancer, and the former president requested permission to attend the funeral and speak with family members.^[161] Initially, federal judge Carolina Lebbos [pt] and TRF-4 judge Leandro Palsen denied permission to attend the funeral, but then STF President Dias Toffoli authorized Lula to leave prison to attend the ceremony and meet with his family.^[162][163] Despite the favorable decision, when Toffoli's authorization was issued, Vavá's body had already been buried. For this reason, Lula chose not to meet with his family and did not leave prison.^[164][165]

On February 21, 2019, Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin denied yet another request for Lula's release.^[166]

On March 1, 2019, federal judge Carolina Lebbos authorized Lula's release from prison to travel to São Bernardo do Campo, where he attended the funeral of his grandson, Arthur Araújo Lula da Silva, who died at the age of seven.^[167][168] Initially, it was reported that Arthur had died of meningitis, but medical tests confirmed that the cause of death was not meningitis, but rather a generalized infection.^[169] After the ceremony, Lula returned to the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba.^[170]

On May 10, 2019, the former president's defense team requested that the STJ allow Lula to serve the remainder of his sentence under open conditions.^[171] On June 4, 2019, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office sent an opinion to the STJ, saying that Lula could serve the remainder of his sentence under a semi-open regime.^[172] But on September 23, 2019, Lula declared, through a statement released by his lawyers, that he had decided not to request a change in his prison regime.^[173]

On June 25, 2019, the second panel of the STF denied, by a vote of 4 to 1, another request for release made by Lula's defense team.^[174]

On August 7, 2019, Carolina Lebbos authorized Lula's transfer to a prison in São Paulo.^[175] On the same day, Judge Paulo Eduardo de Almeida Sorci, of the São Paulo state court, ruled that Lula should remain in the Tremembé prison [pt], in the interior of São Paulo.^[176] Hours later, the former president's defense team appealed to the STF against the transfer. The Supreme Court, by a vote of 10 to 1, suspended Lula's transfer to São Paulo until the Court could review a request for the former president's release.^[177] In the request, the defense questioned the impartiality of Sergio Moro, who convicted Lula in the lower court.^[178]

Subsequent convictions

Appearances after arrest

While in prison, Lula was seen in public on few occasions. His first public appearance after his arrest was on June 5, 2018, when the former president testified before Judge Marcelo Bretas [pt] in a criminal case investigating alleged vote buying for the selection of Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[191] Lula testified via videoconference.^[192] The second appearance was on November 14, 2018, when the former president testified before Judge Gabriela Hardt in the case involving the ranch in Atibaia. Lula was temporarily released from prison in Curitiba to testify.^[193] The third appearance was on March 1, 2019, when Lula was allowed to attend his grandson's funeral in São Bernardo do Campo.^[168] During the ceremony, Lula only spoke in an area reserved for family and friends.^[194] According to people present at the scene, Lula promised his grandson that he would prove his innocence.^[195] The fourth appearance was on April 26, 2019, when the former president gave his first interview in prison to the newspapers Folha de S.Paulo and El País. ^{[196][197][198][199][200][201]} The fifth appearance was on May 10, 2019, when Lula's second interview in prison, conducted for the BBC, was aired.^[202] On May 15, 2019, Lula gave his third interview in prison, this time to journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept Brasil. The interview was made available in full on the internet on May 21, 2019.^[203] After that, for the rest of his time in prison, Lula appeared only in interviews he gave in prison.

Interview requests

On July 11, 2018, Judge Carolina Moura Lebbos, responsible for enforcing Lula's sentence, denied a request by media outlets to interview him in prison. Among the outlets that made the request were UOL, Folha de S.Paulo, SBT, Rede TV!, and Diário do Centro do Mundo [pt].^[196] Journalists Mônica Bergamo [pt], from Folha de S.Paulo, and Florestan Fernandes Júnior [pt], from El País, filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Supreme Court against Judge Lebbos' decision.^[204] On the morning of September 28, 2018, Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski authorized Lula to give interviews in prison.^[196] Hours later, however, the New Party requested the suspension of the injunction, and Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux suspended Lewandowski's decision and prohibited Lula from giving an interview to Folha de S.Paulo. If the interview had already been conducted, it could not be published.^[205] The New Party also filed a lawsuit to prevent El País from interviewing Lula.^[206] On October 1, 2018, Lewandowski reaffirmed his decision, but the president of the STF, Dias Toffoli, decided to uphold Fux's decision.^[207] Fux's decision was criticized by lawyers.^[208]

Two days later, Ricardo Lewandowski once again authorized Lula to give interviews in prison.^[209] On the same day, Dias Toffoli overturned the decision again and kept Lula banned from giving interviews from prison, but warned that the matter could be brought before the full Supreme Court at a later date.^[210] On December 4, 2018, Lewandowski asked Toffoli to authorize Lula to give interviews, since the argument for the ban was that the former president's interviews could influence the 2018 electoral process, but that risk no longer existed because the elections had already been held.^[197] On April 18, 2019, Dias Toffoli revoked Fux's decision and authorized Lula to give interviews in prison.^[201] On April 26, 2019, Lula gave his first interview in prison to the newspapers Folha de S.Paulo and El País.^[211]

Loss of benefits

On May 17, 2018, Federal Judge Haroldo Nader, of the 6th District Court of Campinas, granted an emergency injunction in a actio popularis lawsuit and ordered Lula's benefits as former president to be cut off.^[231] The magistrate's central argument is that Lula would be safer in the Lava Jato prison in Curitiba than he would be if he were free.^[231] The magistrate highlighted the unnecessary mobilization of agents to accompany Lula wherever he went. “It is also absolutely unnecessary to have two vehicles with drivers available to someone whose right to movement is restricted to the Federal Police building in Curitiba and controlled by prison guards,” said the judge.^{[232][233][234]} The lawsuit was filed by Rubens Nunes, coordinator of the Free Brazil Movement (MBL).^[235][236] On May 29, 2018, Judge Marcelo Saraiva, of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region, upheld an appeal and restored Lula's benefits as former president of the Republic, such as advisors, drivers, security guards, and an official car. The magistrate emphasized that these benefits constitute rights and privileges granted by law to former presidents and are not perks.^[237]

Prison visits

When Lula was arrested, only his family and lawyers were allowed to visit him in prison.^[238] Judge Sergio Moro ruled that lawyers could visit him every day and his family only on Wednesdays. However, a few days after his arrest, it was decided that Lula would receive family visits on a day other than Wednesday. The intention was to prevent his family from meeting with the families of his accusers, since Wednesday is the usual visiting day.^[239] The former president requested that his family visit him on Thursdays, and the Federal Police agreed.^[240] Thus, Lula began to receive visits from his family on Thursdays, while his lawyers could visit him every day.^[240] On April 10, 2018, a delegation of nine governors and three senators attempted to visit Lula in prison, but the visit was not authorized.^[241] On May 3, 2018, Lula received a visit from Senator Gleisi Hoffmann and former minister and former governor of Bahia, Jaques Wagner.^[242]

In April 2018, he was visited by Argentine Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.^[243] In June 2018, Argentine lawyer Juan Grabois attempted to visit Lula in prison, but his visit was not authorized.^[244] At the time, Grabois stated that he intended to give Lula a rosary blessed by Pope Francis.^[245] After that, information was posted on the internet that the Pope had sent a rosary as a gift to Lula, but the Vatican denied the information.^[246] The Vatican said that the rosary in question had only been blessed by the Pope, it was not a gift from him to Lula, and that Grabois' visit was personal, not on behalf of the Pope.^[247] On August 2, 2018, former minister Celso Amorim delivered a message from Pope Francis to Lula.^[248]

On January 25, 2019, Judge Carolina Lebbos ruled that former mayor Fernando Haddad could only visit Lula on Thursdays. Haddad had joined Lula's defense team and, until then, had been able to visit the former president any day of the week.^[249] The judge argued that Haddad's power of attorney to represent the former president had lost its meaning, since Haddad was defending Lula's rights as a pre-candidate for the presidency in 2018, but the elections had already passed.^[249] The judge also ruled that the former president could no longer receive visits from religious leaders every Monday, as had been authorized in 2018.^[250] Thus, Lula could only receive visits from religious leaders once a month.^[250] On March 1, 2019, Fernando Haddad obtained a new power of attorney to represent Lula in his defense and, as a result, was once again able to visit the former president regularly in prison.^[251]

On September 17, 2019, Lula received a visit in prison from a commission from the National Human Rights Council, which wanted to hear him about possible violations in Operation Car Wash proceedings, including the very case that convicted him.^[252] In October 2019, Lula received visits from Richard Trumka and Pepe Alvarez, respectively the president of the AFL-CIO, the largest trade union federation in the United States, and the secretary-general of Spain's largest trade union federation, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT).^[253][254] During this visit by union leaders, Lula received the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award from the AFL-CIO.^[255]

During his 500 days in prison, Lula received more visitors, such as American actor Danny Glover,^[256] singers Chico Buarque and Martinho da Vila,^[257] and former Uruguayan president José Mujica.^[258] Among others are Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos,^[259] German Martin Schulz of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and former president of the European Parliament,^[260] Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff,^[261] American intellectual Noam Chomsky,^[262] Brazilian Buddhist leader Coen Rōshi [pt],^[263] former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema,^[264] former governor of the Federal District of Mexico Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas,^[264] and former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.^[256]

United Nations Human Rights Committee

On August 17, the United Nations Human Rights Committee requested that Brazil guarantee Lula the full exercise of his political rights, including access to the media and members of his party. The Committee also requested that he not be barred from participating in the 2018 presidential election in Brazil until appeals to higher courts had been judged impartially.^[25]

The Brazilian government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded on the same day that the Committee would be composed of individuals who do not represent countries and that the request would not have binding effect, being only a recommendation, and informing that it had forwarded the Committee's decision to the Judiciary.^[19]

On August 23, Sarah Cleveland, the Committee's vice-chair, emphasized that the measures are not recommendations and that Brazil must comply with the Committee's decisions, whose actions are based on commitments made by the country to become a member of the community of states that respect human rights. She explained that:^[18]

The precautionary measures issued by the UN Human Rights Committee are not recommendations. They are legally binding and impose an international legal obligation on Brazil to comply with them.

The Workers' Party even registered Lula's candidacy for the Brazilian presidency in the 2018 elections.^[265] However, on August 31, 2018, the Superior Electoral Court, by a vote of 6 to 1, barred Lula's candidacy based on the Clean Record Act, which determines that those convicted by a collegiate body are ineligible for eight years.^[266] This is the case with Lula, since the TRF-4, which convicted him in the second instance, is a collegiate body.^[266] The majority of the TSE collegiate body understood that the decision of the UN Human Rights Committee was not binding and did not have the normative power to annul the ineligibility linked to the Clean Record Act, and that the precautionary measure of the UN Committee based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) could not be accepted because, in addition to having been issued by only two of the eighteen members of the Committee, there was “no justification regarding the imminent risk of irreparable damage to the right to run for election, provided for in Article 25 of the ICCPR.” ^[267] Furthermore, the Covenant “is an intermediate norm and cannot contradict the original text of the Constitution.” The only vote in favor of the candidacy, cast by Minister Edson Fachin, considered that, although the ICCPR is not effective in Brazil due to the lack of an executive decree, this could not prevent its validity in the national territory because “its provisions have supra-legal effect, being hierarchically below the Constitution, but above ordinary legislation.”^[266]

Preliminary injunction to release Lula denied

Controversy arose among TRF-4 judges on Sunday, July 8, 2018, over whether to release Lula or keep him in prison.^[268] The following is a chronology of events, all of which occurred on the same day:^[269]

• At around 9 a.m., Federal Judge Rogério Favreto [pt], acting as duty judge for the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4), ruled on a request for a preliminary injunction in a habeas corpus case, granting Lula's release;^[270]
• Later, around noon, Judge Sergio Moro, summoned as the coercive authority, denied coercion and replied that he had only complied with a previous ruling by the 8th panel of the TRF-4, stating that he did not have the power to determine Lula's imprisonment or release. Understanding that the judge on duty would not have the authority to grant freedom to a convicted person tried by a collegiate body, Moro requested guidance from Judge João Pedro Gebran Neto [pt];^[271]
• Forty minutes later, Favreto issued a new order, reiterating his decision to release him;^[272]
• At around 1 p.m., the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office requested reconsideration of the preliminary injunction granted at 9 a.m. by Favreto;^[273]
• At around 2:20 p.m., Federal Judge João Pedro Gebran Neto, who was the presiding judge in the Car Wash cases in the second instance, assumed jurisdiction over the habeas corpus petition and ruled that Favreto's decision should not be enforced;^[269]
• At around 4 p.m., despite the intervention, Judge Favreto again ordered the release of former President Lula, arguing that he had deliberated on new facts, granting a period of one hour for compliance;^[274]
• At around 6 p.m., the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office spoke up again, requesting that the president of the Court resolve the disagreement;^[269]
• A little over thirty minutes after 7 p.m., the president of the TRF-4, Federal Judge Carlos Eduardo Thompson Flores Lenz [pt], ruled that Lula should remain in prison and that the case should be returned to the judge responsible for the Lava Jato cases in the Court, Federal Judge Gebran Neto.^[275]

Excerpt from Thompson Flores' ruling that resolved the issue in the TRF-4:^[276]

In this equation, considering that the matter discussed in the habeas corpus does not challenge analysis under the judicial duty system and given the right of the Federal Reporting Judge to use the institution of assumption of jurisdiction to preserve his own jurisdiction (Internal Regulations/TRF-4R, art. 202), I order the return of the case files to the Office of Federal Judge João Pedro Gebran Neto, as well as the maintenance of the decision he rendered in event 17.

Subsequently, Veja magazine published on August 11, 2018, that “Gebran Neto admitted to friends that he ignored the letter of the law when he ruled against Lula's release” at the time, “disregarding the jurisdiction of the judge on duty.”^[277] The publication of the news caused the hashtag “#GebranForaDaLei” (#GebranOutlaw) to remain among the Trending topics in Brazil on Twitter for most of the day, generating accusations of bias and disrespect for institutions on the part of the judge.^[278]

Press

• The New York Times: highlighted the turnaround that Lula's imprisonment represented for the Brazilian presidential elections. The American newspaper quoted Lula's speech, in which he promised to regain control of Brazil's destiny and prioritize policies to reduce inequality in the country. The article also highlighted the political division in the country, “with some Brazilians setting off fireworks and honking their horns while others lamented the arrest.” In an editorial, the newspaper concluded that “Despite the success of Operation Car Wash, nothing has been done to fix the judicial system. The danger of a shift toward populism and political radicalization is obvious.”^[288]
• Al Jazeera: published an extensive article, emphasizing that the former Brazilian president continues to assert his innocence.^[289]
• Le Monde: published “the fall of the icon of the Brazilian left” and quoted the former president's speech to his supporters.^[290]
• O Globo: in an editorial, the newspaper stated that “Lula's imprisonment reinforces the rule of law” and affirmed that “more than ever, the republican maxim that justice is for all applies.”^[291]
• Folha de S.Paulo: In an editorial entitled “Obey the law,” the newspaper praised the decision and added, “apart from a small group of militants, driven by nonconformity or hatred, society is mature and calm enough to resolve its conflicts and problems. Corruption is one of them, and Brazilian progress, in this regard, is confirmed once again.”^[292]

Presidential candidates

Repercussions among the candidates for the presidency of the republic in the 2018 presidential election in Brazil, which took place not long after Lula's imprisonment:

Opponents

• Manuela d'Ávila, presidential candidate for the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), has spoken out against Lula's imprisonment and actively participates in “Pro-Lula” demonstrations.^[300]
• Guilherme Boulos, presidential candidate for the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), took a stand against Lula's imprisonment and criticized Ciro Gomes for his absence from the demonstration before the former president's arrest.^[301]
• Ciro Gomes, presidential candidate for the Democratic Labour Party (PDT), first said that society had become “suspicious” that the law was only harsh on the PT and Lula. “It seems that harsh laws only apply to one side in Brazil. Harsh laws are very good if they apply to everyone,” said Ciro.^[302] Ciro then said that the sentence that convicted Lula was weak and unfair.^[106]
• Fernando Haddad, the PT's presidential candidate who replaced Lula as the party's candidate, said he would seek all legal means to free the former president.^{[303][304][305]} But he denied that, if elected, he would presidential pardon to Lula, stated in an interview with Central Brasileira de Notícias.^[306]
• José Maria Eymael, presidential candidate for the Christian Democracy (DC), said that Lula's imprisonment is “unconstitutional.”^[307]

Foreign parties

The Spanish party Podemos criticized the arrest of the former president. One of the party's representatives in the European Parliament stated that “Brazil does not meet the minimum democratic conditions.”^[308] The party stated that the process at all stages “has been based on irregularities.” It also stated that the process is linked to the interests of the elite who are trying to prevent the PT from returning to the presidency of the country. The party asked the European Parliament to suspend negotiations with Mercosur.^[308][309]

The Colombian party Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) declared its solidarity “with comrade and former Brazilian president Lula, rejecting the decision taken against him by the Brazilian Supreme Court and demanding all political and judicial guarantees under the Brazilian constitution, its internal order, and international law.”^[310] In a statement, Raúl Castro, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and former Cuban president, reiterated that Cuba will always stand by the Brazilian people. Read the full message: “To our comrade Lula, victim of political persecution and coup maneuvers, we express our solidarity in the face of the maneuver to prevent his candidacy in the upcoming elections. Lula, Dilma Rousseff, the PT, and the Brazilian people will always have Cuba by their side.”^[311]

Other repercussions

• Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said in an interview with Radio CBN that justice had been served and that it was not a political arrest, given that all the necessary procedures had been followed. However, he stated that he was “not happy.”^[312]
• Former President Dilma Rousseff stated that Lula was innocent and would know how to handle the situation.^[313]
• Former President José Sarney said he “deeply regretted the arrest” and stated, “I am his friend and was quite shocked.”^[314]
• Businessman and politician João Doria said that Brazil woke up relieved and referred to the PT member as a “crook” and a “liar.”^[315]
• The Free Brazil Movement (MBL) and Come to the Movimento Vem pra Rua (MVPR) advocated for Lula's imprisonment, and a month earlier, they called for public demonstrations demanding the former president's arrest.^[316]

In mid-April 2018, an opinion poll conducted by Datafolha indicated that 54 percent of voters surveyed by the institute considered Lula's imprisonment to be “fair,” while 40 percent disagreed. Another 62 percent believed that Lula would not run in that year's presidential election.^[317] Shortly after his imprisonment, however, election polls showed that, even though he had been convicted and imprisoned, Lula continued to lead the race for the 2018 election, with about 30 percent of voters saying they would vote for him.^[318] Months later, in August 2018, Lula continued to lead the polls for the 2018 election.^[319][320] On the other hand, he also had a high rejection rate of 34 percent, the second highest among the candidates. The polls also showed that, in a scenario without Lula in the election, Jair Bolsonaro led the race.^[321]

Former European leaders, including François Hollande, defended Lula's participation in the 2018 elections after his arrest.^[322] The Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Aloysio Nunes, described the demonstration as “arrogant,” saying he was incredulous about the request.^[323]

In December 2019, one month after Lula was released, a new Datafolha poll showed that 54 percent of respondents considered his release to be fair, while 42 percent disagreed.^[324]

In September 2021, former OAS president Léo Pinheiro wrote a letter in which he recanted some of the accusations he had made against Lula in his plea bargain agreement with Operation Car Wash.^[325] The letter was used to dismiss a complaint against Lula, in which he was accused of influence peddling during a lecture in Costa Rica.^[326]