Court Order Suspending Concession of Award Eclipses First Stop of Lula's Campaign Trail

08/18/2017 - 11h33

A federal judge from Bahia ruled to suspend a ceremony scheduled for Friday (the 18th) at the Recôncavo Baiano Federal University (UFRB) where former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was to be given an award.

The tribute, which was approved by the university council, was scheduled to take place in the city of Cruz das Almas (BA), one of several locations on Lula's northeastern campaign trail that was inagurated on Thursday (17th).

Lula has stated that he intends to run for the presidency as the PT (Workers' Party) candidate.

The ruling issued by Judge Evandro Reis, of the 10th Federal Civil Court of Bahia, stated that the ceremony represented "a duplicit act offending the moral order, because it was issued on the eve of the inauguration of the laureate's northeastern campaign trail".

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Lula's campaign trail through the northeast began on Thursday (the 17th) in Salvador and will include another 28 municipalities in the region.

The former president arrived in the capital of Bahia at 4:30pm and took the subway to the Fonte Nova stadium vicinity. He then took a van to get to the stadium.

Five anti-Lula demonstrators were detained by the Military Police that night after one of them pulled out a gun upon Lula's arrival.

According to the officer at the event in charge of security, the man carrying the gun was detained and will be interrogated in order to determine if he shot his gun into the air as the van went past him.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Marlene Bergamo/Folhapress
	Lula's campaign trail through the northeast began on Thursday (the 17th) in Salvador and will include another 28 municipalities in the region