President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) celebrated on Friday (9) the five-year anniversary of his release from prison in Curitiba, where he spent 580 days in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering uncovered by Operation Lava Jato.
The celebration took place with an ecumenical ceremony at Palácio da Alvorada shortly after the meeting that would close the government’s spending cut package – but which, once again, ended without any definition.
“Today marks 5 years since I regained my freedom in Curitiba. To mark this date, alongside Janja Silva, I invited all the religious people who visited me during the 580 days I was in prison to an ecumenical ceremony”, said the president on social media.
He added thanks to the participants, stating that “I will forever carry the memory of what you did. We are brothers, friends, united in love and faith.”
Lula even stated that he would like to return to the Federal Police prison in Curitiba accompanied by the first lady, to remember the period in which he was imprisoned.
“I feel very comfortable in Curitiba. […] I was going to pay a visit to the cell where I was held, I just won’t go today [quinta, 15] because [primeira-dama] Janja is not with me, and she wanted to go with me. […] I want to come here and visit the cell where I was imprisoned, because I don’t think I will forget the 580 days”, said Lula during a visit to Curitiba in August.
Shortly afterwards, during a speech at a fertilizer factory in the metropolitan region, he became emotional remembering the greetings he received daily from protesters and that “I often became depressed and cried when I heard news of fellow workers entering the restaurant or in the bar and were often called a thief.”
He was arrested on April 7, 2018 and released on November 8, 2019 after the court allowed him to appeal his conviction while free. Shortly afterwards, in 2021, the conviction was annulled by order of Minister Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and endorsed by 8 votes to 3 in the plenary.
The annulment occurred after the suspicion of former judge Sergio Moro, responsible for judging Lava Jato criminal actions, in judging cases involving Lula, such as money laundering in the Guarujá triplex (SP), at the Atibaia site (SP) and donations to the Lula Institute.
Lula’s defense stated, at the time, that there was no relationship between the “deviations carried out at Petrobras” and his properties. This, said Fachin, emptied the jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Paraná for cases not directly linked to Petrobras’ embezzlement.
