Incarcerated Former President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lila da Silva has been barred by the higest electoral court in Brazil from contesting the country’s Presidential election in October from jail because of he has been convicted for corruption by a criminal court.
The Judicial pronouncement came about after a strenuous and long session that stretched into the early Hours of Saturday morning; at the end of the session the Justices voted voted 6-1 against Da Silva.
Da Silva who once enjoyed wide spread popular support in Brazil had been convicted and incarcerated since April 2018 for receiving bribes.
While casting the final vote to nail the coffin on Da Silva’s Presidential ambition, Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said the law was simple and clear; it forbids candidates whose conviction has been upheld on appeal from contesting for public office in Brazil.
“There is no margin here for the electoral court to make any other evaluation but the one showing there is a conviction, and that conviction matters in the candidate’s eligibility,” he said.
The lone opposing voice during the steamy session Justice Edson Fachin disagreed with his fellow justices, citing a recent call by a UN human rights committee calling for Lula to be allowed to run while he further appeals his conviction.
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Moments after the court’s pronouncement was announced, members of Da Silva’s Workers Party reiterated their will to secure his candidacy by any means possible.
The Workers’ Party released a statement saying;
“We will present all appeals before the courts for the recognition of the rights of Lula provided by law and international treaties ratified by Brazil. We will defend Lula in the streets, with the people.”
Da Sila who is a former Trade Union Leader as well as a former President is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for accepting a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction firm.
Although he vehemently denied all accusations against him, dismissing them as a political plot to prevent him from standing for elections, he was found guilty in July 2017 and lost an appeal against the conviction in January 2018.
Lula is ineligible for office under Brazil’s “Clean Slate” law, which prohibits candidates from running if they have convictions that have been upheld on appeal.
His Workers Party decided to pick him as their candidate anyway not minding that he had lot his appeal; they insist he is innocent of all charges.