Court Allows Lula to Testify at National Human Rights Council Inquiry

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Judge Carolina Lebbos, Sérgio Moro’s successor in the 12th Federal District Court of Curitiba, on Tuesday, September 10th, approved that former President Lula be heard by the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH) in an inquiry opened in July to analyze the possibility of violation of his right to a full defense.

On July 11th, the CNDH started an inquiry to investigate whether the former president’s right of defense was violated in the investigations of Operation Lava Jato, resulting in a flimsy conviction by the current Minister of Justice, Sérgio Moro, who removed Lula from the 2018 electoral dispute and ordered him to prison.

The rationale behind the procedure is the messages disclosed in the Vaza Jato reports, exposing a plot in which prosecutors acted in a biased and politically motivated fashion in the proceedings against Lula.

The former president’s defense counsel confirmed to Forum news magazine that the request for authorization is valid, and he will be heard on September 17th.

“Former President Lula’s defense believes it will be an excellent opportunity to address the denunciations of gross human rights violations he has been suffering in the context of the Lava Jato operation”.

“These violations have been denounced and evidenced by the human rights committee of the United Nations. Today they are once again confirmed by the significant journalistic work of The Intercept and other media outlets, in what has been dubbed Vaza Jato. The injustice against Lula is also an attack on democracy,” said Valeska Zanin, the leftist’s lawyer.

Source: Revista Forum

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