Brazil court releases ex-president Lula's passport

Federal Judge Bruno Apolinário, of a court in Brasília, decided today (Feb 2) to release the passport of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In the ruling, the judge grants an appeal filed to revoke the decision of a trial court judge who seized the document, thus preventing Lula from leaving the country.

Last week, Federal Judge Ricardo Leite, also of a Brasília court, ruled the seizure of Lula's passport. The measure had been requested by federal prosecutors last Friday (26) on account of a trip to Ethiopia the ex-president had planned in order to attend a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) event. Lula handed over his passport to the Federal Police, did not travel, and took part in the conference online.

The request had been granted after Lula's conviction by an appellate court was confirmed as part of the case involving the beachfront triplex apartment in Guarujá, São Paulo.

In today's decision, Judge Apolinário argues that the first instance judge could not have mandated the seizure of the passport due to the trial that saw the former president convicted in a court in Southern Brazil. Furthermore, he stated that the decision had been based on abstract facts on Lula's alleged escape to Ethiopia.

“In the ruling, the coercive authority did not specify where, when or who is believed to have considered the request of political asylum for the benefit of the victim, which shows the extreme degree of abstraction of the statement. The enforcement of a provisional measure cannot be admitted as part of a criminal case on the basis of generic motivation,” Apolinário stated.

The judge also argued Lula's trip to Africa had been previously announced to the authorities.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira