Lula becomes a prisoner of high political danger.
"The institutions of power are terrified of what they might say or do, of a possible mobilization of their followers and the impact this would have on the political landscape—even in the restricted space and short time of a wake," assesses journalist Helena Chagas, from Journalists for Democracy; "One would have to be very weak for that, a situation seemingly unthinkable for a government that has just assumed full powers under the Democratic Rule of Law. A Republic that is afraid of the words of a prisoner who goes to a funeral and will return to jail immediately cannot function properly."
By Helena Chagas, in Divergent and for the Journalists for Democracy
The refusals from the Curitiba Criminal Enforcement Court and the Federal Police, and the theatrics of the Supreme Court president, Dias Toffoli — who only granted Lula's request to attend his brother's funeral when he was already being buried — only reinforce what was already known: the former president was classified as a highly dangerous political prisoner. The institutions of power are terrified of what he might say or do, of a possible mobilization of his followers, and of the impact this would have on the political landscape — even within the restricted space and short timeframe of a funeral.
It only takes one word to transform a highly dangerous political prisoner into a political prisoner. That's what the authorities who denied Lula a right guaranteed by law—a right that even the military dictatorship didn't deny him when he lost his mother in prison—are managing to do: strengthen the narrative that he is suffering political persecution.
(Learn about and support the project) Journalists for Democracy)
The series of flimsy excuses for the refusal, aggravated by Toffoli's belated and strange decision that the former president should meet his family at a military unit in São Paulo, with the possibility that his brother's body would be taken there, paints a rather unconvincing narrative. Even figures not suspected of harboring any sympathy for the Workers' Party member, such as General Hamilton Mourão, the Vice President of the Republic, considered permission to attend his brother's funeral a humanitarian act. The episode is having a strong impact on social media and will reach international media.
What damage would Lula's presence at his brother's funeral do to the country? A demonstration by the Workers' Party militants? It's quite likely there would be, but to think that this would shake the government, the judiciary, Congress, or the bishop is a long stretch. Or is it?
It would take a great deal of weakness for that to happen, a situation seemingly unthinkable for a government that has just assumed full powers under a democratic state governed by the rule of law. A republic that fears the words of a prisoner attending a funeral and then returning to jail cannot function properly.
(Learn about and support the project) Journalists for Democracy)
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.