Brazil: Former President Lula to Get Moral Damages Compensation

On Tuesday, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decided that Deltan Dallagnol, the former prosecutor of the “Car Wash” anti-corruption operation, must pay a US$15.000 compensation to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for moral damages.

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As a result of Dallagnol's improper actions, the Workers' Party (PT) leader remained in jail for 580 days accused in several trials whose charges were later annulled.

The matter that gave rise to the compensation was Dallagnol's display of a graphic in which Lula appeared as the "chief" of a criminal organization. This happened at a press conference held in Sept. 2016, when the former Brazilian president was only being investigated for suspected corruption.

After that happened, his defense lawyers denounced Dallagnol's presentation as clearly intended to "turn the work of prosecutors into a spectacle of political persecution." This argument was accepted by the Supreme Court judges.

"The spectacularization of this episode does not seem compatible with the seriousness that an investigation demands," Judge Luis Felipe Salomao said, adding that Dallagnol used expressions that affected Lula's public image and honor.

His lawyers interpreted the ruling as "a victory for the rule of law and an incentive for any citizen to fight the abuse of power. The compensation is just a symbol of historical reparation."

The "Car Wash" prosecutor also committed other irregularities in the process against Lula, since he acted in collusion with the then judge Sergio Moro. For these and other reasons, the Supreme Court annulled the sentences against Lula in 2021 and ordered to restart the trials in Brasilia-based courts, which have already filed all the processes.

With the decision of the Supreme Court, Lula recovered his political rights and the possibility of running in the October presidential elections, in which he is the favorite to win.