An appellate judge ordered that Brazil’s ex-president Michel Temer and seven other people be released from jail. They were arrested last Thursday after judge Marcelo Bretas issued an arrest warrant.
The appellate judge Antonio Ivan Athié reviewed the matter over the weekend and issued the order to release Temer today, arguing that “the arrests go against constitutional guarantees,” the BBC reported.
::: "Whose interests does Temer’s arrest serve in this moment?" lawyer asks :::
The ex-president of Brazil from 2016 and 2018 was arrested last week, as well as Moreira Franco, a former Mines and Energy minister, as well as six other people who are being investigated by the Car Wash task force in Rio de Janeiro.
Patrick Mariano, a lawyer who is a member of Brazil’s national network of lawyers who work with and for people’s movements, spoke with Brasil de Fato last week shortly after the news broke about Temer’s arrest, questioning the legality of the operation.
Mariano, who has been looking into Operation Car Wash, said the timing of the arrests was odd, as it happened in a moment when the investigation was being challenged by the Supreme Court.
Edited by: Aline Carrijo | Translated by Aline Scátola