Lula's lawyers reiterated that a judicial persecution had been launched against the former president, at the same time ratifying his innocence in court. | Photo: EFE

Brasilia, August 23 (RHC)-- In Brazil, a judge of the Federal District Federal Court, Pollyanna Alves, annulled this Sunday a new complaint against former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, considering that there is no evidence to blame the leader of the Workers' Party (PT).

The complaint that ended up annulled was filed at the time by the Public Prosecutor's Office for the case "Sitio de Atibaia" -- which sought to reopen the process that had been closed.  However, the Court again ruled in favor of Lula and reiterated that the complaint did not have convincing evidence.

The Public Prosecutor's Office had indicated that the case should be reopened because the former president had allegedly incurred in corruption and money laundering after allegedly benefiting Odebrecht contractors in works carried out in Sao Paulo. The judge reiterated that Lula's actions had never been proven.  "Just cause was not demonstrated in the indictment," added Pollyanna Alves.

"The sentence that rejected the reopening of the "Atibaia Site" action against Lula joins 16 other judicial decisions in which Lula was totally acquitted or lawsuits were filed, given the inconsistency of the accusations," indicated the legal body of former president Lula.

In this way, Lula's lawyers reiterated that a judicial persecution had been undertaken against the former president, at the same time ratifying his innocence in court.  "All these decisions are equally relevant to affirm the primacy of Justice and confirm the innocence of the former president, although nothing can repair the 580 days of illegal imprisonment, violence and suffering inflicted on Lula and his family," they added.

"The defense demonstrated that Lula never received money from Odebrecht to pay for the renovations of the site, which was never his.  The transfer of 700,000 reais from Odebrecht, alleged in the complaint, was effectively made to a director of the company, not for works on the site. Case annulled by the STF, restoring Lula's innocence," conclude Lula's lawyers.