Attorney General's Office (PGR): Lula's habeas corpus can only be judged by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

By Felipe Pontes - Reporter for Agência Brasil

The Attorney General's Office (PGR) argued that no judge of the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF4) has jurisdiction to rule on habeas corpus petitions filed by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Any request for release can only be submitted to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the agency argued.

In a document sent to the president of the STJ, Minister Laurita Vaz, on Sunday night (8), the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Humberto Jaques, asks her to ensure the exclusive competence of the superior court to judge Lula's habeas corpus.

According to the Attorney General's Office, Lula's arrest warrant was issued by one of the panels of the TRF4 (Regional Federal Court of the 4th Region), the Eighth Panel, which would have completely exhausted the jurisdiction of the second instance of the Federal Court to judge any request for the former president's release.

Humberto Jaques also requests that the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) order the Federal Police (PF) not to comply with decisions regarding Lula's imprisonment issued by the first and second instances, obeying only the determinations of higher courts.

This Sunday (8), after being contacted by the MPF, the president of the TRF4, judge Thompson Flores, overruled the decision of the duty judge Rogério Favreto, who had ordered Lula's release. As a result, the former president remains imprisoned at the Federal Police Superintendency in Curitiba.

In a text published on the Attorney General's website, Attorney General Raquel Dodge said that "these are proofs of an action that respects the judicial instances and defends the full functioning of the institutions that make up our justice system."