Brazil’s top court on Thursday delayed until April 4 a decision on whether ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should go to jail if he loses an appeal next week.
The Federal Supreme Court decision is a shot in the arm for the 72-year-old leftist leader, the front-runner for October’s presidential election, and means he cannot be jailed for at least two weeks.
The court, sitting in the capital Brasilia, was expected to decide whether losing an appeal next Monday at a lower court would automatically mean Lula’s immediate arrest and incarceration, or if he would be given recourse to seek further legal remedies.
A court in Porto Alegre is to give its verdict on Monday on Lula’s appeal against a 12-year jail sentence for money laundering and corruption.
The eventual ruling by the 11 judges, when they reconvene on April 4, will weigh heavily on Brazilian politics, seven months before the presidential elections, which Lula, despite his legal travails, is favored to win.
The court convened at 2:00 pm (1700 GMT) as around 150 supporters from his Workers’ Party waved “Free Lula” posters outside the building. Around 30 anti-Lula protesters also held a demonstration.
The judges could grant a “habeas corpus” petition that would allow Lula to remain at liberty for as long as he has a legal chance of avoiding jail. That could be months or even years.
However, a decision against Lula means he could go to jail immediately, if he has, by that time, already lost his appeal in Porto Alegre’s Regional Court No. 4.
A lower court, the Superior Court of Justice, has already ruled against Lula on the “habeas corpus” issue.
Lula was found guilty in July 2017 of receiving a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from a Brazilian construction company in return for contracts with state oil giant Petrobras. He was sentenced to 9.5 years in jail, which, in a January appeal, was increased to 12 years and one month.
The leftist leader, a two-term president from 2003-2010, insists he is innocent of the charges and that he is the victim of a campaign to prevent him from running for the presidency in October.
Everything points to the court rejecting Lula’s plea next Monday, and Lula could be arrested within hours.
Even if he remains free, analysts believe Lula will eventually be declared ineligible for the October presidential elections. That decision ultimately rests with the electoral authorities, which will decide in August.
