April 6, 2018

The People’s Health Movement (PHM) Brazil as a social movement, demonstrates and strongly sustains its support for
Legality and Democracy. We understand that the arrest of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is illegal, since he was found guilty without evidence.

During his administration, Lula established as one of the fundamental axes of his government project, the implementation of public policies aimed at confronting and overcoming hunger and poverty through education and public health programs. Lula’s government was a democratic and participatory construction with non-violent means that raised the standard of living of the population and of those most in need.

The Constitutional Law guarantees the habeas corpus and the presumption of innocence by the clause LVII of Article 5 of the Brazilian Constitution, which states: “no one shall be considered guilty before the issuing of a final and unappealable penal sentence”, supplemented by article 283 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, “No one may be arrested except when caught carrying out a criminal act (flagrante delicto) or by a written and substantiated decision issued by the competent judicial authority as a result of a final sentence of conviction or in the course of the criminal investigation or criminal proceeding, by virtue of a temporary or preventive arrest warrant.”

At that moment, in which the denial of the Habeas Corpus and that Lula’s imminent arrest warrant has a deadline established by the court of exception of Judge Moro, we understand that political resistance is urgent. It is necessary to respect all the appeals, that were run over and anticipated by this Judge.

The arrest is illegal, and it does not respect the law. We understand that this arrest is a political scheme to prevent Lula from running for the next Presidential elections. We Brazilians are undergoing a very serious situation, where an arbitrary and architected set of actions is taking over the people’s will.

We cannot lose this Constitutional guarantee!

 

Read the document in PDF.