Brazil’s Lula Refuses to Swap Jail for House Arrest

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has rejected prosecutors’ request that he leave prison for house arrest, setting up a potential clash with judges over his sentence for corruption and money-laundering.

“I won’t swap my dignity for my freedom,” Lula said in a hand-written letter posted on his Twitter account. He added that prosecutors should apologize to the Brazilian people and his family “for the evil they’ve done to democracy, to Justice, and to the country.”

Prosecutors of the so-called Carwash probe had requested Lula’s release on Friday, in accordance with a Brazilian law that allows prisoners with good conduct and who have already served one-sixth of their jail time to complete their sentence under a less restrictive system.

Lula’s decision sets up a stand-off with the Brazilian courts and it will fall to federal judge Carolina Lebbos to decide whether he will stay in prison or not. The former president retains a significant level of support among swathes of the Brazilian left who argue that his conviction was politically motivated. Lula was convicted by Sergio Moro, the former lead judge in the Carwash corruption investigation, who is now President Jair Bolsonaro‘s justice minister. His conviction was confirmed by an appeals court.

Lula’s lawyer, Cristiano Zanin, is expected to file a formal letter to the court, making clear the former president’s will.

In the letter addressed to the “Brazilian people,” Lula said he has proved that the accusations against him are false and that he is now counting on Brazil’s top court to correct “what’s wrong.”

“I won’t rest until truth and justice prevail again,” he wrote.

Lula still faces prosecution in a further seven cases.

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 at wbrandimarte@bloomberg.net, Bruce Douglas

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