Brazil’s Supreme Court voted Thursday to overturn a ruling requiring convicted criminals to go to jail after losing their first appeal, paving the way for leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be freed.
The decision means thousands of convicts could be released from prison, including Lula, who is among dozens of political and business leaders caught up in a sprawling corruption probe.
They would remain free until they had exhausted their rights to appeal their conviction — a process critics say could take years in cases involving people with deep pockets.
Lula’s lawyers said they would seek the “immediate release” of the former president after speaking to him on Friday.
“Lula has not done anything wrong and is a victim of ‘lawfare,’ which in the case of the ex-president is the strategic use of the law for the purpose of political persecution,” his legal team said in a statement.
The 6-5 decision to overturn the three-year-old ruling is a major setback for investigators in the so-called Car Wash probe, which is supported by many ordinary Brazilians fed up with corrupt leaders.
In a statement, the Car Wash task force said the ruling was “inconsistent” with the fight against corruption.
