Defense team asks TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to authorize Lula to give interviews.
Former President Lula's defense team has submitted a request to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) asking that he be granted the right to participate in the presidential campaign through interviews, one day after having previously asked the court to grant the Workers' Party candidate the same journalistic coverage from television stations as other candidates.
Reuters - The defense team of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) filed a request with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) this Friday, asking that his right to participate in the presidential campaign through interviews be recognized, one day after having asked the electoral court that the PT candidate receive the same journalistic coverage from television stations as other candidates.
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 12/13/2017 REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Lula, who leads in the polls for the October election, has been imprisoned since April, serving a 12-year and 1-month sentence for corruption and money laundering in the Guarujá (SP) triplex apartment case. The former president is expected to have his candidacy barred due to the Clean Record Law.
In its petition to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), Lula's defense argues that his political rights remain intact, including the right to vote and be voted for as a presidential candidate, despite his conviction, and alleges that the Electoral Law guarantees equal treatment for candidates in the electoral process, including by the media.
According to a statement released by the former president's team, the lawyers claim that several media outlets requested interviews with Lula, but these were denied by the Criminal Enforcement Court of Curitiba, where the Workers' Party member is imprisoned.
Lula's defense emphasized that, alternatively, they requested that the right of Lula's coalition to be represented in interviews by the vice-presidential candidate on the ticket, Fernando Haddad, be declared.
The day before, the former president's lawyers filed a petition with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) requesting that television networks give Lula the same treatment as other candidates in their news broadcasts. Some networks have used the argument that Lula is imprisoned to avoid covering the former president's campaign, which has been represented by Haddad.
By Pedro Fonseca, in Rio de Janeiro