Brazil's Rousseff slams decision to detain, interrogate former president Lula

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff expressed her disagreement with the decision to detain and interrogate former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was held for three hours Friday morning by police in Sao Paulo.

In a press release, Rousseff said she had spoken on the phone with Lula, her political mentor, to express her solidarity.

"I want to express my complete dissatisfaction with the fact that a former President, who regularly volunteered information to the authorities, has now been subject to a unnecessary detention to be interrogated," she stated.

On Friday morning, Lula was detained at his apartment in Sao Bernardo do Campo and taken to Congonhas airport to answer accusations that he received embezzled funds from within the Petrobras corruption ring.

At a press conference on Friday after being interrogated by federal investigators for three hours, Lula said he felt "offended" but the support he had received inspired him to "keep fighting."

Rousseff stated that following the Constitution was the only, safe way of carrying out public investigations while respecting the rights of the individual.

"My government has guaranteed the autonomy of the public bodies responsible for investigating corruption. However, we have always asked them to respect the law and the rights of those under investigation," she added.

For Rousseff, "it is necessary for investigations to continue until a punishment is finally meted out to those who should be punished. However, this must be done in a democratic and republican manner, by respecting the Constitution, and under the supervision of the Supreme Court, which are important safeguards."

"Illegal leaks and judging someone before they have had their right to a defense do not help in finding the truth, they only serve to create intolerance and undemocratic rhetoric," she noted. Enditem