Lula will be free, truth and justice will triumph

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, from the prison where he is held, addressed members of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), affiliated with the country’s Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights.

The hearing began September 17, at 10:00 am local time, at Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, capital of the southern state of Paraná, where the former labor leader has been imprisoned since April 7, 2018.

The CNDH decision, Prensa Latina reports, to hear the founder of the Workers Party’s arguments, was mandated by the 12th Federal Court of Curitiba during the 48th session of this body, held in June, to examine the possibility that Lula’s right to defense was violated.

The body discussed his condemnation of selectivity, discrimination, violations of human rights, and constitutional principles by the Brazilian justice system, during the process that led to his arrest, outlined in the report "The Secret Messages of Lava Jato", published June 9 on The Intercept website.

Judge Carolina Lebbos, in charge Lula’s custody in Curitiba, authorized the visit following "the receipt of a complaint alleging violations of constitutional guarantees and human rights."

Following the ruling by Lebbos, the former President’s defense team emphasized that the hearing would be “an opportunity to deepen the technical debate on allegations of gross human rights violations” that Lula suffered in ​​the Lava Jato operation.

The Brazilian judge, according to RT, rejected a complaint filed by the prosecutor for passive corruption against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his brother José Ferreira, known as Frei Chico."

You don't need a keen sense of justice, just a little common sense to see that the accusation is based on interpretations and a lot of assumptions," said Ali Mazloum, a Sao Paulo federal judge.

Lula's defense explained in a statement that the complaint presents “the same unfounded accusations already presented in other criminal proceedings against the former President,” and added, “Lula never offered the Odebrecht group a package of special advantages.”

Since April 2018, Lula has been serving an eight-year and ten-month prison sentence in Curitiba, for money laundering and passive corruption in the case of a triplex apartment in Guarujá, in the state of Sao Paulo.

The former President was also sentenced to another 12-year and 11 months sentence for corruption and money laundering in the remodeling of a house in Atibaia, Sao Paulo, a sentence that was not confirmed by the higher court.

CUBA AND THE WORLD STAND BY LULA

"Cuba never abandons its true friends, especially when they are subjected to continued injustices," said the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Fernando González Llort, during the final day of the 13th International Workshop on Emancipatory Paradigms, held in January this year, in Havana, which focused on organizing actions to win the liberation of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Members of left political parties, social movements, and union trade from more than 25 countries were called upon to strengthen the international campaign supporting the former Brazilian president’s release, a constant battle that is making the truth known.Cubans share the deep conviction of Fidel's thought, expressed in his concept of Revolution, that "there is no force on earth that can crush the power of truth and ideas." Lula will be free.