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The departure of former Brazilian president Lula da Silva from prison is a matter of days or even hours . The Brazilian Supreme Court decided on Thursday that no one can be imprisoned until he has exhausted all resources, which affects thousands of prisoners, including Lula. The leader of the Workers Party (PT) is expected to leave his Curitiba cell very soon .

The president of the party, Gleisi Hoffmann, said on Friday afternoon that she hoped to see him released that same day: "The first thing he will do is go to the vigil, hug the people, thank the people who are there, friends, militancy , who have been leaving him alone for 580 days . " The Lula Libre vigil is a camp formed at the gates of the police station where Lula is imprisoned the same day he was imprisoned. Since then, groups of protesters are relieved to say good morning, good afternoon and good night megaphone in hand.

Later, Lula will travel to São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo. At the headquarters of the metalworkers' union, where he began his career as a trade unionist, he will give his first mass bath and deliver his first speeches. It is the same place that Lula chose as a bunker days before surrendering to the police .

"Lula is calm, serene, not in a hurry to leave because she has a clear conscience of the innocent, but we are in a hurry," said the party leader, who gave no further details about the future plans of the former president. Lula will enjoy full freedom, will not wear ankle brace and will not have restrictions to travel abroad . In fact, there is speculation about the possibility of going to the inauguration of the elected president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, in December.

Tour Brazil

Lula will be from now on the visible head of an opposition that at the moment has failed to find the tone against the Government of Jair Bolsonaro . Sources close to the former president say he intends to travel through Brazil mobilizing its bases, but without entering into direct confrontation with the president, so as not to further strain polarization and prevent Bolsonarism, which is immersed in internal struggles, regrouping in front of to the common enemy. One of Lula's concerns is to revitalize the party in time for the municipal elections to be held in October 2020.

On the right, social movements such as 'Vem par rua' convened demonstrations for this Saturday throughout the country against the decision of the Supreme, which they consider a total endorsement of impunity. President Bolsonaro and his children, normally very active in social networks, did not comment on the possibility of seeing Lula in the street.

Lula was convicted in the first instance by former judge Sérgio Moro, current Minister of Justice of Bolsonaro. Later, an appeal court confirmed the conviction, and since April 2018 he has been imprisoned serving a sentence of eight years and ten months for passive corruption and money laundering.

The judicial decision that will take you out of jail is circumstantial, it is not about your specific case. The defense insists that the important thing is that the Supreme judge as soon as possible the resources that seek to annul his sentence. They argue that Moro and the prosecutors of Operation Lava Jato acted partially and for political purposes. Lula said on numerous occasions that he wanted to leave the prison after being declared innocent, and that he would not accept crumbs of Justice, in reference to criminal benefits such as house arrest.

Despite the victory achieved, Lula's political future is not entirely clear . As things remain, due to the law of the 'Clean Sheet', which he himself approved, he could not stand for the elections of 2022, since this law prevents candidates from being convicted of corruption in the first instance. To be presidential again, the Supreme would have to annul Moro's sentence. This decision, the most important, will be known in the coming weeks. "The decision of the Supreme Court gave him a light of hope that there may be Justice in his case. Our legal battle continues, our goal is the declaration of nullity of the entire process ," said the lawyer Cristiano Zanin Martins.

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