'Brazil Governed by Lunatics' Says Lula in 1st Post-Ruling Interview

The former President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday that the South American nation is governed by a "gang of lunatics," in reference to the administration of Jair Bolsonaro, and stressed that the population does not deserve that kind of leadership.

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"We are going to make a general self-criticism in this country. It can’t be that (Brazil) is governed by that crazy gang that governs the country. It does not deserve that, and above all the people do not deserve that," he emphasized.

The ex-leader made his statements during an interview authorized on April 18 by the chief of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) of Brazil, Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, after a legal battle was won by news outlets.

Speaking to reporters for Folha de Sao Paulo and El Pais, Lula reaffirmed his innocence after more than a year of being detained at Federal Police of Curitiba headquarters in the state of Paraná (south). He asserted that the judge who sentenced him, who is now the current Minister of Justice, Sergio Mouro, as well as the prosecutor of the Lava Jato case, Deltan Dallagnol, made their cases against him without evidence.

The former head of state questioned the current state of the country’s foreign policy and said that this was"the lowest level I have seen in all my life."

Lula stressed that he sleeps with a clear conscience because he is innocent — he is sure that Mouro and Dallagnol can not do the same.

"I know the place that history reserves for me, and I also know who will be in the trash," he commented.

The ex-president indicated that he will continue the fight from where he is and that he will never exchange his dignity for his freedom "because I want to get out of here with my head held high just as I entered: innocent, and I can only do that if I have the courage to fight for it."