Brazil: Former President Lula walks free from prison after 580 days

Former President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been released from the prison on November 8. Lula was imprisoned for a 12-year sentence in April 2018 for corruption and money laundering which was upheld by the appeal court after being ruled by the controversial judge, Sergio Moro. However, even after being in prison for 580 days, Lula always proclaimed his innocence and had argued that the case against him was politically motivated. The former President was greeted by his followers who were delighted to see him walking out of the prison, however, the recent decision by the Supreme court has infuriated the followers of President Jair Bolsonaro. 

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'Did not imprison a man'

In his speech outside the federal police headquarters in the city of Curitiba, Lula said that they 'did not imprison a man' but however, they tried to 'kill an idea'. According to the former Brazilian President, the country did not improve and in fact, it got worse. People are unemployed, hungry, and most of them do not have formal jobs. Lula also thanked the militants of the party who had waited outside throughout his imprisonment and also attacked the 'rotten side' of the police officials, prosecutors, tax office along with the judiciary which had sentenced him. 

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5,000 inmates could be released

Earlier, on Thursday Brazil's Supreme Court had reached a decision that could release nearly 5,000 inmates from the prison along with the Lula. It was a narrow cal with judges deciding ina  6-5 vote that a person could have been imprisoned only after all the appeals to higher courts have been utilized. However, the tie-breaking vote was finally cast by the chief justice, José Dias Toffoli. The cases arising from the Operation Car Wash corruption investigation had led to the jailing of dozens of top politicians along with business leaders in Brazil are covered under the recent ruling by the Apex court. The debate had initially begun in mid-October and the result thus, freed the former President, Lula. 

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(With inputs from agencies)