Brazil chief justice suspends Lula's ruling until 2019

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Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remained in prison Wednesday as two supreme court judges issued competing orders over whether he should be released while he tries to get his graft conviction overturned.

Earlier Wednesday, Justice Marco Aurelio Mello issued a shock ruling that suspended a Supreme Court decision from 2016 that allowed for convicts to be jailed after their sentence was upheld on first appeal.

Brazilian former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacts during a meeting with artists at Oi Casa Grande Theater in Rio de Janeiro, January 16, 2018. /VCG Photo

That would have included Lula, who lost a first appeal and since April has been serving a 12-year sentence for accepting a bribe from a big Brazilian construction company in the form of a seaside apartment.

Lula's lawyers immediately filed a request for his release after the initial ruling.

Chief Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, however, quickly overturned Mello's ruling, saying Mello's order was invalid unless endorsed by the full court and published in the electronic version of the official judicial journal.

Dias Toffoli said the case would be heard on April 10, a debate that will delve into a deeper constitutional discussion that could have wide-reaching implications for Brazil's corruption investigations and criminal justice system.

Supporters of the leftist Worker Party (PT) and Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gather outside the Federal Police headquarters where Lula is serving a prison sentence, in Curitiba, Brazil, December 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

12 years behind bars

A leftist icon, Lula is one of Brazil's most popular politicians, but is also reviled by the right, who blame him for years of corruption, botched economic policies and rising crime.

If Lula is released in April, it would galvanize Brazil's demoralized left, still reeling after October's election of far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who has vowed to reverse policies instilled during Lula's two terms.

Lula, 73, faces six other trials over corruption allegations. He maintains his innocence, insisting he is a political prisoner, jailed in a bid to block him from running for the presidency.

Supporters of Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against former president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva's possible release, outside the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia, December 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

Up to now, the country's courts had rejected multiple efforts by Lula's lawyers to secure the ex-leader's release.

Critics have said reversing the 2016 ruling would result in the return of de facto impunity for the rich and powerful, who have been hobbled in recent years by several corruption investigations that revealed stunning levels of graft in the upper echelons of Brazilian society.

But several supreme court justices have been clamoring to revisit their 2016 ruling, arguing that lower courts have in practice made it mandatory to send non-violent convicts to prison after a failed first appeal. Won by a narrow 6-5 margin, the decision has been in justice's cross-hairs and the subject of much constitutional deliberation that could see it revisited.

Nonetheless, leaders of Brazil's anti-corruption drive believed overturning the decision would seriously damage the country's battle against graft.

Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro leaves the transitional government headquarters in Brasilia, December 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

A reversal of the 2016 ruling would not only free Lula, but also release many other leading politicians and businessmen serving time for corruption.

(With input from agencies)