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| Brazil's ex-president Lula decries persecution as he faces corruption charges in court | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| For nearly five hours, two of Brazil’s most powerful men have faced each other in a Curitiba courtroom in a dramatic legal encounter that has divided the country and left Brazilians tense over what could happen next. | |
| On one side was Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known simply as Lula – the most popular president in Brazilian history. He was being questioned by Sérgio Moro, a crusading federal judge who has become a national hero for jailing the rich and powerful in a gargantuan corruption scandal. | On one side was Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known simply as Lula – the most popular president in Brazilian history. He was being questioned by Sérgio Moro, a crusading federal judge who has become a national hero for jailing the rich and powerful in a gargantuan corruption scandal. |
| Lula is accused of benefiting from the plot, in which billions of dollars were siphoned off fat contracts at the state-run oil company Petrobras. If he is found guilty and jailed, it would mark an extraordinary comedown for a man who transformed Brazil during his eight-year presidency. | Lula is accused of benefiting from the plot, in which billions of dollars were siphoned off fat contracts at the state-run oil company Petrobras. If he is found guilty and jailed, it would mark an extraordinary comedown for a man who transformed Brazil during his eight-year presidency. |
| Amid fears of violent protests, security was increased around the courtroom in the southern city of Curitiba, where the hearing – which is closed to the press – is taking place. Thousands of red-shirted Lula supporters descended on the city, along with Dilma Rousseff, his successor as president for the leftist Workers’ party, who was impeached last year. | |
| After the hearing, Lula and Rousseff gave impassioned speeches to a large crowd of supporters in a Curitiba square, who sang his name and chanted: “Lula, warrior of the Brazilian people.” | |
| In his speech, Lula attacked what he said was bias in the Brazilian media against him and thanked supporters who had travelled from different parts of Brazil. | |
| “Never in the story of Brazil was someone was so persecuted and massacred as I am being in the last years,” he said. | |
| Paulo Baía, a political scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said the trial had become politicised by both Lula and Moro. “There is a climate of tension,” he said. But in recording a video asking supporters of the corruption investigation not to go to Curitiba to demonstrate, Moro had also politicised the trial, Baía said. | Paulo Baía, a political scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said the trial had become politicised by both Lula and Moro. “There is a climate of tension,” he said. But in recording a video asking supporters of the corruption investigation not to go to Curitiba to demonstrate, Moro had also politicised the trial, Baía said. |
| “It has elevated the temperature of the testimony into a big political act,” he said. | “It has elevated the temperature of the testimony into a big political act,” he said. |
| Lula – who waved a Brazilian flag on the way into court – faces a barrage of legal cases. Wednesday’s hearing focused on a seaside apartment which prosecutors allege was renovated and then given to him by OAS, a company embroiled in the scandal, which also transported and stored his presidential archive. | Lula – who waved a Brazilian flag on the way into court – faces a barrage of legal cases. Wednesday’s hearing focused on a seaside apartment which prosecutors allege was renovated and then given to him by OAS, a company embroiled in the scandal, which also transported and stored his presidential archive. |
| Lula is accused of benefitting to the tune of 3.7m reais (£910,000), but the prosecution alleges OAS was settling a bigger 88m reais (£21m) graft bill with the Workers’ party he co-founded, in return for big oil refinery contracts. | Lula is accused of benefitting to the tune of 3.7m reais (£910,000), but the prosecution alleges OAS was settling a bigger 88m reais (£21m) graft bill with the Workers’ party he co-founded, in return for big oil refinery contracts. |
| Lula denies the charges, which his supporters say are part of a politically motivated legal war to stop him from winning a third presidential election in 2018. Early polls have put Lula as a clear winner in the contest – but if he were found guilty and his conviction upheld by a higher court, he would be unable to run. Following today’s hearing, the prosecution and defence will present their final arguments before a ruling. | |
| Lula’s lawyer Cristiano Martins also criticised the proceedings immediately after they ended. “What we have witnessed today in a Brazilian court room was a politically motivated attack. The hearing was a farce. Zero evidence was produced by the prosecutors whilst Lula and his legal team have produced overwhelming evidence of his innocence today,” he said in a statement. | |
| Throughout the day, hashtags in support of both Lula and Moro trended heavily in Brazil. One of the most popular, #MoroOrgulhoBrasileiro (#MoroBrazilianPride), was shared by a Brazilian tweeting as Cleide Viana. “We don’t need another hero, we have Dr Moro,” she posted. | |
| The former president’s supporters, meanwhile used the hashtag #MoroPersegueLula – or MoroPersecutesLula. | The former president’s supporters, meanwhile used the hashtag #MoroPersegueLula – or MoroPersecutesLula. |
| Thousands of Lula supporters gathered in Curitiba. Paulo D’Avila, 67, a retired tax officer in a red T-shirt, travelled two and a half hours to support the former president. He said Moro was the puppet of darker forces that masterminded the controversial impeachment of Rousseff in 2016 – a process she and Lula describe as a coup. | Thousands of Lula supporters gathered in Curitiba. Paulo D’Avila, 67, a retired tax officer in a red T-shirt, travelled two and a half hours to support the former president. He said Moro was the puppet of darker forces that masterminded the controversial impeachment of Rousseff in 2016 – a process she and Lula describe as a coup. |
| “He is in service of financial capital,” D’Avila said. “Like a good part of Brazilians, I am in the struggle against this gang that has taken over Brazil.” | “He is in service of financial capital,” D’Avila said. “Like a good part of Brazilians, I am in the struggle against this gang that has taken over Brazil.” |