Sérgio Moro: Later, the convictions were annulled; we do not dispute that point, but an annulment on merely formal grounds, with which I myself respectfully disagree — I understand that, at bottom, there was indeed an annulment for political reasons.
Sérgio Moro: But, as a result of that episode, in which... Incidentally, former President Lula was never declared innocent by the courts.
But, as a result of that episode, Delegado KIQ was charged with the crime of electoral defamation by the Public Prosecutor's Office there in the State of Paraná, and he defended himself in court, first by challenging the very facts narrated in the indictment, but also by mounting a vehement defense of freedom of expression.
Sérgio Moro: If there was a conviction in three instances of President Lula for crimes of corruption and money laundering in the Petrobras case; if there were also scandals in the past of the Lula government, such as the mensalão case, that characterization is open to debate and there are arguments on both sides.
Sérgio Moro: But the fact is that our courts never declared President Lula innocent in those episodes.