My Accusers Will Be Ridiculed, Says Former President Lula

12/21/2017 - 11h30

Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva invited a group of journalists to meet with him on Wednesday (the 20th) at the Lula Institute to record an interview. "I'll try to be in the best mood possible", he said.

"From time to time I see somebody say that I am in a bad mood. I can't be in a bad mood because I am a Corinthian (soccer team with largest fan base in Brazil). I'm in first place in the polls. If there is anybody who is in a bad mood in this country it isn't me", he continued.

Lula said that he wasn't afraid of being condemned or imprisoned. He said that even if the pending court decision turns out unfavorable, he will be a candidate "whenever the PT (Worker's Party) wants" and that he could appeal to higher courts.

For the former president, his accusers "will be ridiculed". "I just want you to read the procedural notes. I saw there that [Judge Leandro Paulsen] the reviewer read 2,500 pages per hour. This is humanely impossible", the PT leader declared.

Lula said that he has no fear of being imprisoned. "Because only someone who committed a crime can be imprisoned. This [Deltan] Dallagnol [Prosecutor] isn't big enough to do what he is doing. He should be fired for the good of public service. It isn't possible that the State pays so much to someone to tell the kind of lies that he told [referring to the PowerPoint presentation he made at the Prosecutor General's Office]."

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

Read the article in the original language

	Danilo Verpa/Folhapress
	Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva