Senators meet preventive detention request against Lula with caution
Senator Paulo Rocha - 
The São Paulo state prosecutors' request for the preventive detention of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party – PT) filed with the criminal court Wednesday (Mar. 9) was met with cautiousness, outrage, and concern among pro-government and opposition senators on Thursday (10).
The leader of the Workers' Party caucus in the Senate, Paulo Rocha, sees the move as an act of “provocation” as a countrywide anti-government protest draws near on Sunday (13). The senator said the Workers' Party is not calling its activists to confront the anti-government protesters because his party does not “respond to provocations”.
“Even if our activists do take to the streets, they will do so in order to uphold democracy through peaceful means and something we know how to do—large demonstrations for democracy. Our recommendations for our supporters are: 'their' demonstration is on [March] 13. Ours will be on the 18th and 31st,” Rocha said.
Workers' Party Senator Donizeti Nogueira said “if we have any incidents Sunday, the São Paulo State Prosecutor's Office will be accountable. And we will take action to hold them accountable.” Fellow party Senator Regina Souza also criticized the prosecutors' “rush” to charge the former president, calling it “persecution”.
According to her, the Workers' Party leadership had been working to prevent clashes on Sunday, but now their militants may grow “harder to control”. “I'm worried. This seems to have been [meant] to ignite street [protests] and that can be dangerous,” she concluded.
The opposition's reaction
Senator Cássio Cunha Lima, leader of the Senate caucus of the main opposition party, PSDB, also criticized the prosecutors' actions and called for caution. “There are no grounds to warrant a request for preventive detention, not least because the Federal Prosecutor's Office and Federal Police have only very recently carried out raids for evidence. This is a very unusual moment in our country's life,” he said in a statement.
For Senator Cristovam Buarque, who was an education minister during Lula's first term, the detention request was a disservice to Brazil. “In a democracy, you need very robust motives to send someone to jail. Anyone. If you want to arrest a former president, you need very strong grounds—evidence, laws, reasons. I hope the prosecutors have given this a thought,” he said.
Senator José Agripino Maia, chairman of DEM opposition party, said it is time to be reasonable and uphold the institutions. In his opinion, the judge's ruling will tell if the facts are as they are alleged. “It is a time of great tension. This is about ordering a former president to preventive detention,” he said.
Maia called for “sense” in the anti-government demonstrations of next Sunday. “I hope people are respected in their demonstrations and those who support former president Lula understand that [any] jail orders will be the initiative of institutions that have the role of investigating, enforcing laws, and helping the country understand that no one is above the law,” he said.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Senators meet preventive detention request against Lula with caution
