Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting Brazil coup

[stevegc]

8. Lula was a political prisoner

His prison was not a legitimate outcome of anti-corruption justice, but a blatant act of judicial persecution orchestrated by the Brazilian far right to sabotage the Workers' Party and pave the way for Jair Bolsonaro's ascent to power. Lula was the favorite to win the 2018 election. His arrest prevented him from running and allowed the far-right to come to power.

Judge Sergio Moro, who convicted Lula, was appointed as Bolsonaro's Justice Minister in 2019. He's now a Senator elected by the Brazilian far right. The Vaza Jato leaks, published by The Intercept, exposed Telegram messages between Moro and Lava Jato prosecutors revealing a coordinated plot to rig the case against Lula. These communications showed Moro advising prosecutors on how to build charges, selectively feeding them evidence, and suppressing information that could exonerate the former president—actions that breached Brazil's Code of Criminal Procedure and international fair-trial standards.

The farce unraveled in 2021 when Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) unanimously ruled Moro's handling of the case unconstitutional due to his proven bias, annulling Lula's conviction and restoring his political rights—allowing his triumphant 2022 reelection. The UN Human Rights Committee echoed this in 2022, declaring Lula a victim of an unfair trial tainted by Moro's partiality. Even the STF later labeled the entire Lava Jato operation a "historical mistake," voiding its evidence as illegally obtained through U.S.-backed hacking and prosecutorial overreach.