Decisions by Courts That Will Try Former President Lula Are Accelerated

11/28/2017 - 11h55

The processing of criminal proceedings on first appeal at the so-called Car Wash Operation in Porto Alegre, which will try former president Lula, have been accelerated. In recent months, with the accumulation of cases and a base of previous decisions, the TRF-4 (4th Regional Federal Tribunal) has intensified the quantity of cases being reviewed.

Since October the timeframe for processing has been decreasing. Five Car Wash cases were tried consecutively, which took less than 10 months between the time that they arrived at the court until the time that their final voting took place.

From January until October, the average trial time for cases had been 14 and ½ months. If November is taken alone, that time was reduced to seven months. The court is responsible for reviewing the cases judged by Sergio Moro in Curitiba. All of the penal cases from Car Wash go to the 8th group, which is comprised of three judges.

	Antonio Araújo/Agência Tempo
	Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

If the November average is maintained in Lula's case, he could be tried in the first semester, which would be before the electoral period. If condemned upon first appeal, he could be prohibited from running in 2018.

One factor that contributed to the acceleration is the fact that the cases are all developments from the same operation, according to the President of the group who is responsible for reviewing the Car Wash cases, Leandro Paulsen.

An investigation by Folha in September revealed that six of the requests from the former president's defense to overturn the case had already been repeatedly denied by the judges in other cases. If these decisions are taken as precedents, the entire process should be accelerated.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

Read the article in the original language