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UNI affiliates TAKE ACTION, please get on twitter now and show your support for Lula on this critical day when his candidacy will either be allowed or denied. Please demand his release and call for him to allowed to stand using these hashtags - #FreeLula #LulaLivre

UNI Global Union, as part of a concerted campaign by the international labour movement, is demanding that the Brazilian authorities allow Lula’s candidacy for President.

Tens-of-thousands of Lula’s supporters have marched to the capital Brasilia where they hope to officially register Lula’s candidacy today.

UNI Global Union’s General Secretary, Christy Hoffman and the Regional Secretary of UNI America’s Marcio Monzane have written to the President of the Supreme Court demanding that Lula be released from prison immediately, so that he can stand in the Presidential elections. Opinion polls show that if Lula is allowed to stand, he will win.

Hoffman said, “The world is watching! We urge the Brazilian authorities to listen to the people and do the right thing. Free Lula and let him stand.”

The former President was imprisoned on trumped up corruption charges in April and remains in jail despite one Brazilian judge ordering his release. The judge ruled that Lula’s imprisonment was unlawful. His decision was reversed by judges close to the neo-liberal elite.  Lula's conviction is on appeal, but despite this, it is feared that his candidacy will not be permitted so long as he remains in prison.