By Ludmila Cassio
A new book by a Brazilian Federal Police officer who guarded Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his imprisonment claims that the future president insulted several Supreme Federal Court (STF) justices in private. The book, Banho de Sol ("Sunbathing," the prison term for the yard hour), is by Jorge Chastalo Filho and is already causing a stir in Brasília, according to Brazilian outlets. The story circulated on the X profile @EleicaoBr2026.
According to the portal ND Mais, Chastalo was Lula's jailer for all 580 days the leftist spent at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba. The book collects conversations in which the then-prisoner is said to show disappointment and resentment toward justices appointed by him and by his successor, Dilma Rousseff. The main targets would be Cármen Lúcia, Edson Fachin and Luiz Fux.
What the book says about Cármen Lúcia
According to Chastalo, Lula, leader of the Workers' Party (PT), called Cármen Lúcia "falsa humilde" ("falsely humble") and "miserável" ("wretch"). The outlets O Antagonista and ND Mais reproduce one of the strongest passages. In July 2018, while the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) was deciding whether Lula could run for president, he allegedly said: "Cármen is falsely humble, Chastalo. Do you know that type of person?"
Lula allegedly recalled that when she sought a Supreme Court nomination in 2006, the justice spoke about her childhood and gratitude. "And I fell for it!" he reportedly said. At another point, the book quotes him as saying: "I went to bed early yesterday, with a great hatred for Cármen Lúcia. She talked about gratitude and now it has come to this. That wretch."
Fachin and Fux also named
According to the jailer, Fachin became a target after he removed from the court's agenda the habeas corpus petition filed by Lula's defense to seek his release. "That Fachin is really a son of a bitch, Chastalo," Lula allegedly said, according to the book. Lula also reportedly said he did not appoint Fachin during his own presidency because he did not trust him, and that the decision fell to Dilma. The book also reportedly has Lula calling Fachin "comedor de hóstia" ("communion-wafer eater").
According to Diário do Centro do Mundo, citing a column by Mônica Bergamo in the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Fux fell out of favor when, in 2018, he overturned an authorization granted by then-Justice Ricardo Lewandowski for Folha and El País to interview Lula in prison. The headline of O Antagonista's report cites the expression "cachorro pidão" ("begging dog"), and ND Mais lists "canalha" ("scoundrel") among the terms attributed to Lula.
Diário do Centro do Mundo adds that Lula allegedly called members of the court cowards, saying many justices "can't stand a Veja cover" (a reference to the news magazine). The portal also says Lula agreed when Chastalo remarked that Alexandre de Moraes and Luís Roberto Barroso were the court's smartest justices.
Background: from prison to the presidency
According to ND Mais, Lula was released in November 2019. In March 2021, Fachin annulled his convictions in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption investigation, and the STF upheld that decision in April 2021. The justices now criticized in the book were therefore part of the path that took Lula back to the presidential palace.
The remarks come from a single witness, in a book. The outlets use the conditional ("allegedly said"), and none of the reports consulted includes a response from Lula or the justices.
What comes next
The next step is the reaction. Lula could be pressed to explain the remarks, and the named justices could be asked about the episode. With the book in stores, more excerpts are likely to emerge.
VDD Analysis
If the accounts are accurate, the contrast is stark. The same leader who now praises institutions and calls for respect toward the Supreme Court would have cursed, in private, the very justices appointed by PT governments. The political criticism is legitimate: gratitude and institutional loyalty should not depend on whether a ruling favors or hurts Lula.
