Lula asks the UN to "restore the truth" about Brazil.
The Human Rights Committee has not yet ruled on the merits of the complaint filed in 2016 by the former president against the Brazilian state.
Lematin.ch - Former President Lula has been in Geneva since Thursday to ask the UN to "establish the truth" about his country. The Human Rights Committee has not yet ruled on the merits of his complaint filed in 2016 against the Brazilian state.
According to concurring sources, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 74, arrived at the hotel in Geneva in the early afternoon. “I think the United Nations can help restore the truth in this country. Not the truth against anyone, but the truth in favor of justice,” he said in an interview with a Brazilian correspondent based in Geneva, published this week by several Swiss media outlets.
He should not speak before a UN body, but rather put pressure on the committee's independent experts. They are responsible for determining whether Brazil, through former judge Sergio Moro, who became Minister of Justice, violated the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the trial against the former president for corruption and money laundering.
In 2018, the Committee requested, as part of a provisional agreement, that Brazil authorize Lula to run for president. After rejection by the judicial authorities of his country, the former head of state was replaced in the election by Fernando Haddad, who will be defeated by Jair Bolsonaro.
Dialogue expected in Geneva
Lula is currently undertaking a second European tour since his release last November, after a year and a half in prison awaiting appeal of his eight-year and ten-month sentence. On Friday evening, he will have a dialogue in Geneva with representatives of international unions and members of his support committee in Switzerland, during a discussion on inequalities where hundreds of people are expected.
An issue he raised on several occasions, including three weeks ago with the Pope at the Vatican. "In most countries, workers are losing their rights," said the former Brazilian president, attacking "financial interests."
Implicated in a dozen corruption cases, he has always denied any embezzlement and repeatedly denounced a conspiracy to prevent him from returning to power. In interviews this week, he neither confirmed nor denied his intention to run in the next election in two years.