The former president has been taken into custody to serve 12 year sentence while retaining support of his party.

1. Brazil is Entering a New
Phase After Lula’s Arrest
The former president has been taken into custody to serve 12 year
sentence while retaining support of his party.
By Bubble Staff -
Apr 9, 2018 at 14:45
http://www.thebubble.com/brazil-enters-new-phase-after-lula-arrest/
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the
metallurgic trade union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Francisco
Proner)
Brazilian politics has entered a new phrase with former president Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva in prison, presidential elections six months away and continued
political uncertainty.

2. After a series of judicial decisions (at the Supreme Court first and then an order
that he surrender to police) that went against him last week and amid rising
tension as the deadline for his surrender passed, Lula was taken into custody
on Saturday afternoon to begin serving a 12 year prison sentence following
scuffles as his supporters sought to prevent him from turning himself in.
The ex-president has always argued that he is innocent of the charges that
lead to his conviction on graft charges, and hours before he was held he gave a
defiant speech to supporters outside the São Bernarndo do Campo
metalworkers union that has been foundation to the Workers’ Party (PT)
political history. In that speech, he once again proclaimed his innocence,
offered encouragement to supporters as well as opening the door to two young
leftist presidential candidates.
“It’s not worth it, they thought they would stop me, I’m not going to stop
because I’m not just one human being, I’m an idea, an idea mixed with your
ideas…I will comply with the order and you will have to become, each and
every one of you, will no longer be called chiquinho, zezinho, joãozinho,
albertinho (nicknames)…all of you will be from now become Lula and will travel
this country to do what you have to do every day!” Lula said before supporters
from the PT, the CUT union and the MST (Landless Workers’ Movement) and
MTST (Homeless Workers’ Movement).
“Many years ago I dreamt that it was possible to govern this country involving
millions and millions of poor people in the economy, involving millions of people
in the universities, creating millions and millions of jobs in this country. I dreamt,
I dreamt that a metalworker without a university diploma could take better care
of education than the university graduates who govern this country. I dreamt
that it was possible that to reduce child mortality by providing milk, beans and
rice so that kids could eat every day. I dream that it was possible to take the
students from the periphery and put them into the best universities of the
country so that they people wouldn’t have judges and prosecutors drawn from
the elite. Not long from now we’re going to have judges and prosecutors born in
the Heliópolis favela, born in Itaquera, born in the periphery. We’re going to
have a lot of people graduates from the MST, MTST, from the CUT. That’s the
crime that I committed.”
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3. A view of a mass for former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's late wife in front of the metallurgic trade
union in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker)

4. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attends a protest in front of the metallurgic trade union in Sao
Bernardo do Campo, Brazil April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Leonardo Benassatto)
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is carried by supporters in front of the metallurgic trade union in
Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Leonardo Benassatto)

5. An anti-Lula demonstrator performs in front of the Federal Police headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil, April 7, 2018.
(REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)

6. Anti-Lula demonstrators celebrate as former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives at the Federal
Police headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil, April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer)
Demonstrators protest against former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in front of the Federal Police
headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil, April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Rodolfo Buhrer)

7. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arráves at the Federal Police headquarters, in Curitiba, Brazil,
April 7, 2018. (REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes)
Lula was flanked by the PT chair Gleisi Hoffmann, and Guillherme Boulos and
Manuela D’Ávila, presidential candidates for the PSOL and the Community
Party respectively, and he hinted at them as part of the next generation of leftist
political leaders. The PT presidential candidate has been leading the polls and
there are question marks over whether he will be able to formally register to
run, given the ban on candidates with convictions for corruption cases that have
been upheld on appeal.
The full transcript of Lula’s speech can be found here in Portuguese.
In yet another case of legal intrigue, the Supreme Court this week may review
the constitutionality of mandatory prison time for those convicted of criminal
offenses who have had a first appeal rejected while they continue to fight their
convictions. The habeas corpusappeal that da Silva filed before the Supreme

8. Court was specific to his case whereas the constitutionality ruling would have
broad effects.
The two-time president is now serving his sentence in a Federal Police
headquarters in Curitiba, where his supporters have set up a vigil until what
they hope is his prompt release. The transfer from Sao Bernardo was not
without controversy as threatening audio messages directed towards the plane
taking him from Sao Paulo to Curitiba calling for “that trash to be thrown out the
window” and “that he never return” were published soon after. The Brazilian Air
Force has confirmed that the audio messages took place but denied that air
traffic controllers were involve, pointing instead to “anonymous users” who took
advantage of open radio frequencies.

9. ForçaAéreaBrasileira
✔@portalfab
Esclarecimento sobre áudios que circulam nas mídias sociais.
9:42 PM - Apr 8, 2018
•
2,113
•
1,198 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacyJust prior to the Supreme Court’s decision last week, Last night, the head of the
Brazilian Army General Eduardo Villas Boas got tongues wagging by tweeting
that the Army shared the “anxiety of all upstanding citizens against impunity
and respecting the Constitution, social peace and Democracy, as it remains
mindful of its institutional missions.” The PT called the tweet “blackmail” against
the courts and today Brazilian President Michel Temer’s Security Minister Raul
Jungmann defended Villas Boas’s comments as demonstrating “respect for
institutions.”

10. ForçaAéreaBrasileira
✔@portalfab
Esclarecimento sobre áudios que circulam nas mídias sociais.
9:42 PM - Apr 8, 2018
•
2,113
•
1,198 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacyJust prior to the Supreme Court’s decision last week, Last night, the head of the
Brazilian Army General Eduardo Villas Boas got tongues wagging by tweeting
that the Army shared the “anxiety of all upstanding citizens against impunity
and respecting the Constitution, social peace and Democracy, as it remains
mindful of its institutional missions.” The PT called the tweet “blackmail” against
the courts and today Brazilian President Michel Temer’s Security Minister Raul
Jungmann defended Villas Boas’s comments as demonstrating “respect for
institutions.”