Brazil court blocks Lula from cabinet post that would shield him from investigation

BRAZIL’S political turmoil has deepened after the country’s Supreme Court suspended the nomination of former president Lula da Silva from a cabinet post that would have shielded him from prosecution in the country’s Petrobras corruption scandal.

In a ruling issued late on Friday night, the court blocked Mr da Silva from becoming presidential chief of staff and sent the corruption case against him back to the criminal court.

The move is a heavy blow for the country’s embattled Left-wing president Dilma Rousseff, whose decision to appoint her predecessor to the post was criticised by opponents as a deliberate attempt to give him ministerial immunity. It came after tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Friday night in support of the two politicians, who have described the accusations against them as a deliberate smear campaign.

The court decision, issued by Judge Gilmar Mendes, is likely to be appealed by the government, which could leave the country in political limbo for weeks to come. It follows mass anti-government protests in Brazil last week, with up to three million people taking to the streets to call for Ms Rousseff to stand down. She herself now faces possible impeachment over the Petrobras scandal, in which billions of dollars allegedly vanished at the state oil giant.

Ms Rousseff accused her rivals of mounting a “coup” against her, and in- sisted that she appointed Mr Lula mainly to help her rebuild her political base in Congress.

However, in his ruling, Mr Mendes described it as an intention to interfere in investigations and a potential “act of fraud against the constitution”.

He returned the corruption case against Mr Lula to Sergio Moro, the crusading judge who is leading the ex- plosive Petrobras investigation.

Mr Moro had previously caused an uproar by leaking a wire-tapped phone call between Ms Rousseff and Mr Lula, in which she allegedly proposed appointing him so he would gain ministerial immunity. Mr Lula’s image was further battered by the release of conversations in which he suggests intimidating the prosecutors.