Brazilian Court Upholds Conviction of Former President Lula da Silva

Corruption is Everywhere - Especially in Brazil

By Daniel Uria  

A Brazilian appeals court upheld a corruption conviction against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as he prepares to run in the country's upcoming presidential election. File Photo by Andrew Harrer/Pool/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- A Brazilian appeals court unanimously upheld a corruption conviction against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday.

The three-judge panel's decision to uphold the conviction could prevent the 72-year-old da Silva's candidacy in Brazil's upcoming election. The country's "clean record law" bars politicians whose convictions are upheld on appeal from running for office.

"There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the ex-president was one of the actors, if not the principal actor, of an ample corruption scheme," said Joao Pedro Gebran Neto, one of the judges.

The court ruled against jailing Lula da Silva as he fights the conviction, but increased his sentence from 9 years to 12 years in prison.

"At a minimum, he was conscious and gave support to what happened," Neto said.

Lula Da Silva was convicted of receiving more than $1 million in bribes, including a newly refurbished beachfront apartment, as part of a corruption scandal known as "Operation Car Wash."

The former president can appeal the conviction to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court and apply to an electoral tribunal for a special exemption to run for president if the appeal process extends through the election.

He delivered a message of defiance while speaking at a rally of his supporters in Porto Alegre, home of the Fourth Regional Federal Court of Appeals, on Tuesday.

"Only one thing is going to remove me from the streets of this country and that will be the day that I die," Lula da Silva said. "Until then, I will be fighting for a fairer society."

His Workers' Party backed up Lula da Silva in a statement and called on his supporters to take to the streets.

"If they think this story ends with today's decision they're sorely mistaken," the party said. "We won't give up in the face of this injustice."

German Court Upholds Ruling that "Death to Zionists" Really Means "Death to Jews"

Taylan Can

Elder of Ziyon

Last year during the Gaza war there were a number of antisemitic rallies in Germany that shocked even members of Germany's Left.

In January, a leader of one such rally held in Essen, Taylan Can, was convicted of hate speech for saying "Death to Zionists." At that rally, the haters threw bottles at a pro-Israel demonstration, chanted  "Adolf Hitler" and said "F--- Jews" as well as "“Scheiss Juden!” (“Jewish s--t”).

That same leader had been known to chant "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas."

I'm not sure if this video is of that same rally, but it was also in Essen:

The judge said that when demonstrators said "Death to Zionists" they really meant "Death to the Jews." He sentenced the leader to three months probation and a small fine of 200 euros. He emphasized that criticizing Israel is okay but what they did was way over the line and was hate speech and incitement.

Taylan Can appealed the verdict. Observers were skeptical that the ruling would be upheld.

Last week, the Appeals Court indeed upheld the ruling and in fact increased his sentence to ten months probation.

Yes! Good decision Appeals Court. Bless you!