RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Former president Lula said in another interview granted by the Federal Police in Curitiba that he will prove that Justice Minister Sérgio Moro and the head of the Lava Jato Task Force in Curitiba, Deltan Dallagnol, are criminals.
In the interview, granted to journalist Bob Fernandes, shown on Friday night on his Youtube channel and TVE Bahia, said he only wants to get out of prison with “a hundred percent innocence”.
He replied that he does not know how long he will remain in Curitiba, where he serves time for corruption and money laundering, but that he will not ask for house arrest or other alternatives to incarceration. “It is from inside that I want to prove that they are bandits and I am not. That’s what I want to prove.”
This was the first time that the former president spoke after the decision by Federal Judge Carolina Lebbos, responsible for the execution of his sentence, which authorized the transfer of him to São Paulo. On the same day, the STF overthrew the decision.
“It meant (the decision) the need to get rid of Lula before he can leave here. I do not know the judge. She was irresponsible. I hope society is seeing it. I don’t want to be treated better than anyone else.”
The former president commented that he was in prison because he wanted to. According to him, he had a lot of opportunities to leave Brazil without being arrested. “I want to leave here with a hundred percent innocence. I’m here because I want to. I could have left Brazil. I had a lot of opportunities. I didn’t want to leave because the way for me to help put criminals in jail is to stay here.”
During the interview, he commented on the most recent case of Vaza Jato, published by BuzzFeed News in partnership with The Intercept Brasil, in which he points out that Moro instructed, even when he was a federal judge, the Lava Jato prosecutors not to collect Eduardo Cunha’s cell phones on the eve of the arrest of the former president of the House of Representatives. Visibly angry at this point, the former president, hitting the table, highlighted that the Federal Police went to his grandchildren’s house to seize a tablet.
“They spent a year with the tablet stuck here. And they didn’t have the courage to pick up Eduardo Cunha’s phone because Moro said: “No, he won’t pick up the phone.” What was in Eduardo Cunha’s phone that Moro didn’t want anyone to know about? Why didn’t they accept a report from Eduardo Cunha?” he asked.
Lula spoke of the influence of the U.S. in Brazil. For him, Lava Jato is orchestrated by the U.S. government. “Today, I’m clear, Bob, that everything that’s happening here in Brazil from Lava Jato is connected with the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice is more in charge of Moro than his wife.”
Later, he stated that Lava Jato was built to deliver Brazilian oil, refineries, and distributors and that the CNMP (National Council of the Public Ministry) should have asked for its resignation.
“Dallagnol shouldn’t even exist because he doesn’t have the training to do so. He is not big enough to do what he is doing,” he said.
He criticized Globo’s stance in the case of leaks of messages obtained by the site The Intercept Brasil, which exposed the performance of Moro and Deltan. “So far Globo did not have the courage to publish any content researched by The Intercept. It’s like it doesn’t exist. They were able to invent a hacker in Araraquara. They arrested a hacker for confirming Moro’s lies and don’t have the courage to arrest Queiroz,” he said.
The former president referred to Bolsonaro as a cheerleader who speaks to fanatics. “Bolsonaro is governing and speaking to his rooting section of fans. To please his fanatics, those who are not worried about Brazil.”
He criticized the way in which the president treated the defeat in the primaries of Argentine President Mauricio Macri. “He had the folly of talking about a strategic partner, offending the Argentinean people.”
Lula said that, when he gets out of prison, in addition to getting married because he is in love, he will go to the streets to raise the self-esteem of the Brazilian people. “If they are afraid of me, find another way to shut me up. A 74-year-old man, who has done what I have done, will not shut up. I want my innocence,” he said.
(Source: Folhapress)