In the pursuit of Lula, the Justice system is becoming dishonorable.

With each passing day, the demoralization of the Justice system grows, having lost the credibility and trust of the population due to the actions of the magistrates themselves. Not only have there been scandalous abuses of authority denounced even by a Supreme Court Justice, viewed with suspicious leniency by higher courts, but now information has come to light revealing intense behind-the-scenes maneuvering, involving even a Minister of State and the Attorney General of the Republic, to prevent the execution of the order from Judge Rogério Favreto of the 4th Regional Federal Court, which mandated Lula's release. This revelation comes from the Director General of the Federal Police, Rogério Galloro, in an interview with journalist Andreza Matais. According to him, the decision to disregard the release order came from the president of the TRF-4 (Regional Federal Court of the 4th Region), Judge Thompson Flores, through a phone call, alleging a "conflict of jurisdiction" with Judge Gebran Neto, which was actually a false argument because the jurisdiction belonged to the duty judge, in this case Judge Favreto.

It turns out that the first to disobey the court order for release was the on-duty delegate at the Federal Police in Curitiba who, instead of immediately complying with the warrant, first called the Director General Rogerio Galloro, who was in a shopping mall in Brasilia. Galloro, in turn, called the Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann, and also contacted the Attorney General of the Republic, Raquel Dodge, who informed him that she was filing a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Justice against the release of the former president. It was then that Judge Thompson Flores called, saying: "I am ordering it. Do not release him." The Director General of the Federal Police added, informing that "the call (from Thompson) came before the one-hour deadline." And he added, relieved: "The call was worth it." This raises some questions: Do federal police officers adopt this same procedure, consulting superiors and even the minister, to comply with a court order to arrest or release someone? Or does this only apply to Lula? Would they have the courage to disobey an order from Minister Gilmar Mendes?

It also seems strange that the Federal Police failed to comply with a written order to release the former president, and instead complied with a verbal order, given by telephone, from Judge Thompson, to keep him imprisoned. Does the Federal Police usually comply with verbal orders from judges? However, the illegalities committed in this episode by the magistrates themselves, which characterize procedures adopted in a regime of exception, did not stop there. A news story published by "Veja" magazine reveals that Judge Gebran Neto, rapporteur of Lava Jato at the TRF-4, confided to friends that he ignored the law to keep Lula imprisoned. Gebran, who maintains close ties of friendship with Judge Sergio Moro and increased the former president's sentence in the second instance to 12 years, also participated in the movement to prevent Lula's release, claiming that his colleague Favreto, the judge on duty that day, did not have the authority to release the Workers' Party leader.

Everyone, inside and outside the Judiciary, acknowledged that the court order for Lula's release was disobeyed by the Justice system itself, but to this day the higher courts have simply ignored the gravity of the fact, failing to punish those responsible. After Minister Eliana Calmon retired, the National Council of Justice, under the presidency of Minister Carmen Lucia, became a merely decorative body. Only recently did Minister Carmen, who is also president of the Supreme Federal Court, touch lightly on the Curitiba episode, in the session reopening the work of the Supreme Court, stating that "it is absolutely unacceptable to disobey judicial decisions." And that's all. As the highest authority in the Judiciary, even while stating that disobeying a judicial decision is unacceptable, she took no action, which can be interpreted as complicity with the attitude of the judges of the TRF-4. It can be concluded, then, that if the Justice system itself disobeys its decision, why should other mere mortals comply with it?

The fact is that the revelations of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering in this scandalous episode, received with surprise and indignation by the Brazilian people, confirm, once again, the plot orchestrated in the Judiciary, with the complicity of the coup-supporting media, to imprison the former president and prevent him from running in this year's presidential elections. There is no doubt that, if it depends on legal channels, Lula will not be released from prison anytime soon, because there is a decision in the Judiciary, at all levels, to keep him incarcerated, regardless of its legality, which is why all his appeals are denied. Everyone knows, including the magistrates themselves, that the imprisonment of the Workers' Party leader was illegal, but that doesn't matter, because there is an order to prevent him from returning to the Presidential Palace. But where did this order come from? To find the authors, one only needs to answer the following question: Who benefits from keeping Lula away from power? The answer is simple: to the United States, because he is an obstacle to American dominance, and to Globo, because he could revoke the broadcasting license of the Marinho family's network. So, what to do?

Apparently, only a popular uprising could free the great leader, but this would result in bloodshed, with the loss of many lives, as well as giving cause for a military coup. The only peaceful solution, since a change in the justice system cannot be expected, is the election next October. His persecutors will not allow him to run, but polls indicate that he will elect his substitute, the former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad, who will be his head, his ideas, and his pen, which means that this scandalous and cowardly persecution will not produce the desired effect. And, after the election, Lula should be released, because his tormentors imagine they will have achieved their goal. And he will leave prison much stronger than when he entered, because the people, previously blinded by the systematic media campaign, now clearly see the true enemies of the country. The left, however, especially the PT (Workers' Party), should strive to elect not only the President but also a majority of the members of the Legislative Branch, because only in this way will it be possible for the new leader to recover the country from the damage caused by the coup leader Temer and, moreover, to promote a reform of the Judiciary.