Brazil judge strips Lula of office amid mounting political crisis [View all]

[joshcryer]

A supreme court judge in Brazil has blocked the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s appointment to cabinet, paving the way for him to face corruption charges in court.

Judge Gilmar Mendes wrote that Lula’s appointment to cabinet was clearly designed to allow him to avoid possible imprisonment by a lower court judge.

Lula’s appointment to cabinet on Wednesday, which sparked protests in several cities, means only the supreme court can investigate him, placing him beyond the reach of a crusading judge heading Brazil’s biggest ever graft probe into corruption at state oil company Petrobras.

“The goal of the falsity is clear: prevent the carrying out of preventative arrest order” against Silva being considered by a lower court, Mendes wrote in his ruling.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/brazil-judge-strips-lula-of-office-amid-mounting-political-crisis

Sanity prevails.