The Free Lula Movement plans to deliver a manifesto to the 11 members of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court between October 20 and 26. They are calling for people and organizations globally to sign on.
Groups like the Communist Party of Brazil are issuing an appeal for global solidarity in support of a campaign to see all the charges against former leftist Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finally annulled.
Lula, as he is popularly known, was railroaded into prison ahead of the 2018 elections on what are now widely seen as bogus, politically motivated corruption charges. This prevented him from running for the post he had previously held. He was widely expected to win.
Instead far right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won in what amounted to a soft coup.
The International Committee of Solidarity in Defence of Lula and Democracy -- or Free Lula Movement -- plans to deliver an open letter to the 11 members Brazil's Supreme Federal Court between October 20 and 26. They are calling for people and organizations to sign on by October 20.
Esteemed friends of the Brazilian people
We are asking for your solidarity with the Brazilian people and our comrade Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
We ask for you to sign this collective letter addressed to the 11 ministers of the Supreme Federal Court. Please send your signature by October 20, 2020 (name, qualification and country) to the email address comitelulalivre@gmail.com.
Esteemed Ministers of the Supreme Federal Court
We, the undersigned of this letter, respectfully address the members of the maximum Court of justice of Brazil, to express our profound concern over the proceedings in the trial of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The information revealed by the website The Intercept and shared on diverse media platforms of Brazil and the world, show that the fundamental rules of legal due process were repeatedly violated. Additionally, the conduct of Mr. Sergio Moro, ex-judge and ex-minister of Justice, as well as that of other members of the “Car Wash” Task Force and of the Attorney General’s Office, makes clear not only the existence of collusion in a highly politicized process, but also how ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was denied his inalienable right to an impartial trial. We also were surprised to hear news about the meddling of the FBI and of the US Department of Justice with the prosecutors of Car Wash. We know that it is unacceptable that foreign governments interfere in local judicial processes. This threatens sovereignty and conceals other political and economic motivations.
We understand that the Rule of Law, in Brazil or in any other country, runs serious risks when there is not respect to legal due process, that guarantees all citizens the right to a just and impartial process. Furthermore, we understand that the Court has an essential role in safeguarding institutions and Brazilian democracy. In this sense, we respectfully request that the Ministers of the Supreme Federal Court do not avoid their historic responsibility and that they act in the plenitude of their functions to repair the injustices committed against ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
You can read the Portuguese, Spanish and French versions, as well as some of the original signatories, here.
The campaign's original letter demanding Lula's release was signed by over 107,000 people and supported by prominent figures like Noam Chomsky, Danny Glover, former president of Uruguay José Pepe Mujica, and co-founder of CODEPINK Jodie Evans.