Federal Supreme Court Suspends Lula’s Transfer to São Paulo

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Supreme Court (STF) suspended on Wednesday, August 7th, by ten votes to one, the transfer of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the Tremembé prison facility, in São Paulo State, and decided to keep him in the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba.

The case was taken to the Supreme Court by Lula’s defense after judge Paulo Eduardo de Almeida Sorci, of the São Paulo State Court, decided earlier that the former president would serve time in Tremembé. This decision was taken hours after the federal judge of Paraná State, Carolina Lebbos, issued an order to transfer Lula from Paraná’s capital, Curitiba, to a prison in São Paulo State.

After hearing legislators who protested against the transfer, STF Presiding Justice Dias Toffoli decided as a matter of urgency to submit Lula’s appeal to the full court.

In less than half an hour, the justices decided to keep the former president in Curitiba until the Second Panel of the STF completes the judgment of a request for an order of suspicion of former judge and current Minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, in conducting the Guarujá triplex case, in which Lula was convicted. In the case, the defense points to the bias of the former judge in the trial and, as a result, calls for the former president to be released.

Rapporteur of Lava Jato in the STF, Justice Edson Fachin was the first to vote on the petition made by Lula’s defense. He positioned himself in favor of suspending the Paraná judge’s ruling and keeping the leftist in a special cell in Paraná or São Paulo. Nine other justices followed Fachin’s vote. The only dissenting vote was from justice Marco Aurélio Mello.

The Federal Prosecutor General, Raquel Dodge, also argued that Lula should not be transferred to a common prison and that he should remain imprisoned in the PF superintendency in Curitiba or in a special cell in São Paulo.