Lula stays in cell: supporters see dubious motive authorities

brasilia - The former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, can not continue to await his appeal in freedom. That is what the Supreme Court of the country decided. According to polls, he seems to be the most likely to be elected president of Brazil in October, but that plan is probably still falling apart.

Lula has previously been sentenced to twelve years in prison on appeal. He was free until today. The court ruled in 2016 that suspects should start their sentence if their first appeal against a conviction has been rejected. That decision was, however, under discussion.

Lula wants to participate in the presidential elections again, and is very good at the polls, but will probably be declared ineligible by his conviction.

Lula was chosen in 2002 as the first leftist leader of Brazil since the early sixties. He did not make a lightning career in politics and did several vain attempts to become president. He was born in 1945 as a child of poverty-stricken parents who could not read and write. He began his career in polishing shoes and selling peanuts. Lula only learned his tenth writing and only fifteen years later he began to explore Brazilian politics through a trade union.