73,000+ Personalities Worldwide Support Lula's Presidential Run

"Election without Lula is fraud" is the manifesto promoted by intellectuals and artists, such as Noam Chomsky and Chico Buarque, in support of the participation of ex-president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the presidential elections of 2018 and which has collected more than 73,000 signatures thus far.

"The attempt to schedule the date of the trial of Lula's appeal for the 24th of January is empty of legality. It is purely an act of persecution of the most popular Brazilian leader." says the text.

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The judge of the Lava Jato case, Sérgio Moro, sentenced the former head of state to nine and a half years in prison for the alleged crime of passive corruption in the face of bribes paid by the construction company OAS.

"Lula grows in the polls in all scenarios in the first and the second rounds, and can even win in the first round. The scenario of overwhelming victory of Lula would mean the failure of the coup and would enable the opening of a new political cycle." the document continues.

For her part, the senator and former president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, has already signed the request and invited her followers to add more signatures.