Georgetown: The Guyana Cuba Solidarity Movement (GCSM) is standing in solidarity with its international partners in demanding the immediate release of Luiz Inacio “Lula” Da Silva from prison.
The launch of the pre-candidacy of Luiz Inacio “Lula” Da Silva for the Presidency of Brazil was held on Sunday May 27.
“Lula was found guilty by a lower court on the basis of no evidence, something that the lower court judges themselves have admitted. Lula is Brazil’s most popular politician by a huge margin, and the judicial persecution of him is aimed at stopping him becoming President again,” Khan said.
The GCSM President said that Lula’s lawyers have taken his case to the UN Human Rights Council, pointing to the blatant bias of judges and prosecutors and asking the Council to recognise that the regional court which found him guilty, Judge Sérgio Moro and the ‘Car Wash’ Federal Prosecutors have violated Lula’s rights to privacy, right to a fair trial, freedom from arbitrary arrest, the right to freedom of movement and right to be presumed innocent until found guilty.
Khan explained that the legal team of Brazil’s former president and candidate for the Workers’ Party, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, submitted a new recourse in the Federal Supreme Court to demand his immediate release.
“President Lula was unjustly imprisoned in a procedure which was biased and full of holes. He’s leading in all of the election polls. This is one more scandal in the embarrassing persecution of Lula, “ the GCSM President said.
Lula’s lawyer Cristiano Zanin Martins explained they want the Porto Alegre appeals court to reconsider their decision to make Lula serve his prison sentence early, before a his defense had exhausted the appeals.
Martins also noted that the other option is to submit the case to be analyzed in order to revoke Lula’s “early” prison sentence.
Lula, the prominent leader in the Workers’ Party, was imprisoned on April 7 after he decided to turn himself to Brazil’s Federal Police. Federal judge Sergio Moro ordered Lula immediate imprisonment on April 5.
Before turning himself in, thousands of Brazilians shared a mass and a political rally to show their support for Lula, and protest what they call political persecution through the justice system. Lula is considered by many a political prisoner.
So far, every opinion poll has showed him poised to win if he runs in the 2018 presidential elections. Many legal experts and observers affirm that he’s the victim of lawfare and a calculated media persecution campaign.
Lula was sentenced to 12 years in prison for alleged “passive corruption,” and money laundering. Workers’ Party supported have set up a camp outside the prison where Lula is being held in Curitiba, Parana, to maintain a permanent vigil.
International personalities joining the International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity’s campaign in this effort includes: Jorge Arreaza, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Pedro Sanchez, Spanish Socialist Worker’ Party, Current President of Spain; José Manuel Zelaya, Former President of Honduras; Rafael Correa, Former President of Ecuador; Danny Glover, Actor, United States; Domingo Santacruz and Zoila Santacruz, Ambassador of El Salvador in Venezuela; Ali Alejandro Primera, Vice Minister of Culture, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Gilberto Pinto Blanco, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Aristóbulo Isturiz, Minister for the Communes of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Delcy Rodriguez, President of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Father Luis Barrios, Church of Santa Cruz, New York; Manuel Quevedo, President of PDVSA, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Piedad Cordoba, former Senator, Colombian Movement for Peace; Suelma Beiruk, Vice President of Pan African Parliament; Vinnie Molina, President of the Australian Communist Party; Winston Vallenilla, President of the TVes (Televisora Venezolana Social); David Choquehuanca, General Secretary of Alba, Former Foreign Minister of Bolivia; Alejandro Navarro Brain, Senator, Chile; Father Michael Lapsley, South African Anglican priest and former Vice President of the South African Council of Churches, who leads the Institute for the Healing of Memories.
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