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Brazil Prosecutors Want Lula to Leave Jail in Next Few Days

Brazil Prosecutors Want Lula to Leave Jail in Next Few Days

(Bloomberg) -- The same prosecutors who put former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva behind bars for corruption and money laundering are now willing to see him placed on house arrest.

Prosecutors of the so-called Carwash task force said the former president has shown “good behavior” and is now entitled to a semi-open regime, which would allow him to leave jail by day for work so long as he returns to prison every night.

Brazil Prosecutors Want Lula to Leave Jail in Next Few Days

Considering that few Brazilian prisons offer such a system, he could be given house arrest instead, according to analysts from XP Investimentos.

Lula has been serving a sentence of nearly nine years in the southern city of Curitiba since being arrested in April 2018. Under Brazilian law, a prisoner may qualify for a less restrictive prison regime after spending one-sixth of their sentence in prison. Yet the former president has yet to request such a move.

Lula’s lawyer Cristiano Zanin Martins said he’ll talk with him Monday to decide what to do. “The former president should have his freedom fully restored because he didn’t commit any crime,” Martins said in a statement.

Lula is the most high-profile figure ensnared by the Carwash probe, which uncovered a kickback scheme involving state-owned companies, construction firms, and politicians. Lula’s arrest prevented him from running for president last year, when opinion polls showed him leading the race. While becoming a divisive figure in Brazil, he still retains popularity among a smaller base of supporters who continue to demand his release.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simone Iglesias in Brasília at spiglesias@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Walter Brandimarte, Robert Jameson

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