after fighting lung cancer, died in yesterday’s the eldest of seven brothers of former President Lula Da Silva, Genival Inacio da Silva. Upon hearing the news, the lawyers representing the former President asked Brazilian justice the possibility of attending the funeral in question. The order took place by applying to the article 120 of the Penal Enforcement Act, that says that “convicts serving penalty in closed or open semi and temporary prisoners can obtain permission to leave the building by escort, when” “occurrence of death or illness serious spouse, partner, ascending, descending or brother”. However, it was rejected by federal judge Carolina Moura Lebbos and Leandro Paulsen, both part of the Regional Federal Court of the 4th region of Porto Alegre. The resolution was based on the potential risk of leakage that could lead to the departure of Lula.
However, after this initial failure, in the last hours the Supreme Court of Brazil, highest judicial body of the country, enabled former President to attend the funeral of “Vavá” this afternoon. The President of the Federal Supreme Court, José Antonio Dias Toffoli, granted the order with emphasis on humanitarian law and the provisions of criminal law.
Let us remember that Lula is from the 7 April 2018 prisoner, sentenced to nine and a half years imprisonment for passive corruption and money-laundering. In particular, the former President was found guilty of taking bribes for $1.1 million by the construction company OAS, one of the companies involved in the scandal of Petrobras.
