Following arrest warrant, Dirceu releases 'letter to the Brazilian people'
"I was convicted without any official act or evidence, in a trial broadcast day and night on TV, under pressure from the mainstream press," writes the former minister, in a letter that was released shortly after the arrest warrant issued by the president of the Supreme Court, Joaquim Barbosa; he states that "categorical evidence that there was no misappropriation of public funds" was ignored and guarantees that he "will continue fighting" to prove his innocence and overturn this "spurious sentence."
247 - After being summoned by the Federal Police on Friday afternoon, former Chief of Staff José Dirceu released a "letter to the Brazilian people" in which he claims to have been convicted without evidence and guarantees that he will fight to prove his innocence and overturn this "spurious sentence" by the Supreme Federal Court. "I was convicted without any official act or evidence, in a trial broadcast day and night on TV, under pressure from the mainstream press," Dirceu writes.
Read the full letter:
The trial of AP 470 is heading towards its conclusion as it began: innovating – and violating – individual guarantees ensured by the Constitution and the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Brazil is a signatory.
The Supreme Court of my country ordered the sentences to be served in installments. The trial began under the sign of exceptional circumstances and remains so. Initially, they did not separate the case for the first instance court, violating the right to a second instance of jurisdiction, an express guarantee in Article 8 of the Pact of San Jose. We, the defendants, were left with a supposed privileged forum, a right I did not have, which made the case an exceptional and political trial.
As always, I will comply with the Constitution and the law, but not without protesting and denouncing the unjust nature of the sentence I received. The worst injustice is that committed by the Justice system itself.
It is public knowledge and on record that I was convicted without evidence. I am innocent and was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months for active corruption and conspiracy – against which an appeal is still possible – based on the theory of command responsibility, erroneously applied by the Supreme Federal Court.
I was convicted without any official act or evidence, in a trial broadcast day and night on TV, under pressure from the mainstream press, which for those eight years subjected me to a pre-trial and lynching.
They ignored categorical evidence that there was no misappropriation of public funds. Evidence that confirmed that the payments made by Visanet, through Banco do Brasil, were properly offset by services provided by a contracted advertising agency.
The accusation that votes were bought in parliamentary elections was endorsed without any concrete evidence, establishing this interpretation for acts that are only related to the payment of expenses or electoral agreements.
During the unprecedented trial that paralyzed the Supreme Court for over a year, press coverage was both encouraged and influenced votes and convictions, and concealed violations of individual rights and guarantees, the right to defense, and the prerogatives of lawyers – violated once again in Wednesday's session when they were denied the opportunity to respond to the request from the Attorney General's Office.
I was not condemned for my actions in almost 50 years of political life dedicated entirely to Brazil, to democracy, and to the Brazilian people. I was never even investigated in my public life, as a congressman, as a social activist and political leader, as a professional and citizen, as a Minister of State in Lula's government. My conviction was and is an attempt to judge our struggle and our history, of the left and the PT, our governments and our political project.
This is the second time in my life that I will pay with imprisonment for fulfilling my role in the fight for a more just and fraternal society. I was a political prisoner during the military dictatorship. I will be a political prisoner in a democracy under pressure from the elites.
Even in the worst circumstances, my generation has always shown that it does not bend or break. I ask my friends and colleagues to maintain their serenity and firmness. The Brazilian people continue to support the changes initiated by President Lula and enhanced by President Dilma.
Even though imprisoned, I will continue fighting to prove my innocence and overturn this spurious sentence, through criminal review and appeals to international courts. It doesn't matter that my freedom has been stolen: I will continue to defend, by all means at my disposal, the great causes of our people, alongside the Brazilian people, fighting for their emancipation and sovereignty.