Brazil – Former President Lula Refuses Prison Resulting In Police Standoff For His Arrest

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South America returned to an age of lawlessness today as the former President, Mr Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, defied the court’s order to present himself to prison and start serving a 12-year sentence for bribery.

Mr Lula da Silva stayed in the headquarters of the steelworkers union in the heart of Sao Paolo, surrounded by several hundred of his die-hard supporters who refuse to hand him over to police.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio ´Lula´ da Silva protest in Rio de Janeiro the order for Lula to turn himself in to police to serve a 12-year sentence for a graft conviction. <a href="https://t.co/sBk3A1CJcY">pic.twitter.com/sBk3A1CJcY</a></p>&mdash; teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) <a href="https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/982441621236146177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Union leader Mr Jorge Nazareno stated: “We are here to show that the workers will resist this attack against democracy.”

It looks like a last stand for the left-wing ruling PT party who have now seen their last 3 presidents exit the governing stage (Mr Lula, Ms Roussef and Mr Temer are all out on corruption charges).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defied a Friday deadline to report to prison to begin serving a corruption sentence <a href="https://t.co/oQ8txebPzW">https://t.co/oQ8txebPzW</a></p>&mdash; The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/982404361417617409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

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If Mr Lula da Silva indeed goes to prison, as is still expected, chances are that a market-friendly candidate from a smaller political party could win the election, creating for a serious power vacuum as many state appointments are tied to the ruling party in government (according to analysts and political rivals of the PT party).

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/22385-Brazil-Former-President-Lula-Must-Serve-Prison-Term-Video

Mr Cassio Goncalves, a syndicate member supporting Mr Lula da Silva at the union headquarters, said: “We have no other plan. Plan A, B and C is Lula, because he is innocent. He will be our president.”

Source:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/06/brazilian-judge-orders-arrest-of-former-president-lula