Official Statement: A tragic day for democracy and Brazil

Today is a tragic day for democracy and for Brazil.

Our Constitution was torn apart by those who should defend it and the majority of the Supreme Court of Brazil (STF) sanctioned another violent action against the country’s greatest popular leader, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

By denying Lula a right that should be for every citizen, of defending himself in liberty until the final judicial decision, the majority of the STF knelt before the pressure scandalously orchestrated by the Rede Globo TV Network.

And in guiding the judgment of Lula’s habeas corpus before considering the lawsuits that reestablish the presumption of innocence as a general rule, the president of the STF determined another exception procedure.

This fundamental right, which will certainly be reestablished for all, was not guaranteed for Lula today.

There is no justice in this decision. There is a combination of political and economical interests against the country and its sovereignty, against the democratic process, against the Brazilian people.

The nation and the international community know that Lula has been convicted without evidence in an illegal process, in which notoriously partial judges have failed to even characterize the occurrence of a crime.

Lula is innocent and this will be proclaimed in a fair trial.

Brazilian people have the right to vote for Lula, the candidate of hope. PT will defend this candidacy in the streets and in all instances, to the last consequences.

Whoever has the strength of the people, and the truth at his/her side, knows that justice will prevail in the end.

PT National Executive Committee