CURITIBA – Last Sunday, Brazilian Coup-leaders lost the last argument they were using to justify Lula's imprisonment: respect for legal processes. It happened when, after Lula's defense lawyers obtained a Habeas Corpus in his favor, the Federal Police openly refused to obey the order. Such dismissal of legal rituals was unseen even during the dictatorship period. Immediately after the episode, the International Human Rights Foundation granted Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva prisoner of conscience status. The release order was provisory, would have been contested and Lula was probably destined to return to jail. However, the desperate actions that followed the Habeas Corpus were undisguisedly illegal. While on vacation in Europe, judge Sergio Moro ordered the police officers to disobey the release order, arguing that the judge, who issued it while on duty and who is Moro's superior in the judicial hierarchy, was mistaken in his decision. Moreover, another judge, also on leave, supported Moro decision, overwriting the Habeas Corpus, which should and could have only been done in a higher court. Both judges are part of one of the most conservative courts in Brazil. For the first time since the Lawfare campaign against Lula began, obedience to the formality of judicial rituals, and not the substance of the case, gained the spotlight. So far, the bizarre allegations against Lula were supported by an alleged obedience to procedures – no matter how unfair or misused they were. Such layers of formalism were necessary to protect Moro's irrational line of thought: Brazil is a corrupt country, Lula was president, therefore Lula is corrupt. Following this train of thought Moro concluded, for example, that: 1) Lula can be condemned for money laundering even though there is no proof because money laundering is about concealing money; and 2) Plea bargain witnesses told the judge that private contractors had illegal multi-billion dollar deals with the federal government so Lula is corrupt because he was willing to buy an apartment built by one of these contractors – although he never actually did it. There are political and emotional reasons that led Moro, other judges and the federal police officers to abandon formalism as their last line of defense. Politically, Lula is so symbolically powerful that with even a few hours of freedom he threatens to further imbalance the electoral process, in which he is the undisputed front-runner. On an emotional level, it is hard to manage an obsession, and Moro is clearly obsessed with Lula - whom he nicknames “9”, making fun of the fact that he lost a finger in a factory floor accident. Furthermore, the judge has co-fraternized with all of Lula's major political adversaries both during the time he was reviewing Lula's case and after pronouncing judgment. So far, the international media have been supportive to Brazil's illegitimate government by continually affirming that the legal institutions are working and formal processes are being respected. The real reason for this is that core national companies, infra-structure and geopolitical assets of the Brazilian state have been undermined by the present government through the World's most radical neoliberal agenda. This agenda, supported by the international media, was rejected time and time again by the Brazilian electorate. We call on all democrats around the world to support the Brazilian people's right to vote for Lula! Join world-class intellectuals such as Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, Thomas Piketty, Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Slavoj Žižek in this call! More than half a million signatures have been collected in various online petitions to support Lula and democracy in one of the world's largest countries. Find them below and show your willingness to support democracy and overturn judicial persecutions against popular leaders. Election Without Lula Is Fraud Change.org/lula Denounces the farce that "institutions are functioning normally" Nobel Prize of Peace https://chn.ge/2Ix1ts9 Reinforces the candidacy indicated by the already laureate Pérez-Esquivel Lula is a political prisoner https://chn.ge/2kpoxzi Internationally renowned intellectuals ask for his release Letter to the Jurists of the World http://bit.ly/juristascomlula Experts denounce exception process Stand with Lula http://standwithlula.org Support from the International Confederation of Central Trade Unions