**5. Conclusion**

The intention of this article was to demonstrate that the constant disrespect for criminal procedural guarantees in large cases of political corruption is particularly harmful to democracy, especially when Law is used to interdict the popular will expressed in polls for voting intentions.

Through the Operation Car Wash, the Brazilian case is the reference of a bad example in this sense, as former President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva was convicted and held in custody for 580 days when he was leading the voting intentions in 2018 only to be recognized by the Supreme Court, after the election of the new President Jair Bolsonaro, the partiality of Federal Judge Sérgio Moro. A judicial bias that was already clearly perceptible from the beginning for those with a minimum knowledge of criminal procedure.

The construction of the conviction of a popular former President was only possible because:


Considering that the now President Jair Bolsonaro took anti-political speech to extreme levels, that after winning the elections he started to delegitimize the electronic voting system and that it is already beginning to be said that he can even bar the October 2022 elections [33], it is possible to correlate the disrespect for individual guarantees operated by Operation Car Wash with political and institutional instability that recalls the worst moments of recent Brazilian history.

It is important to emphasize that legal sanctions against acts of political corruption are necessary and healthy for democracy and for the very realization of social rights. But due process of law can never be neglected; Law cannot be manipulated to achieve political and punitive purposes in a specific case, even under the pretext of fighting corruption. Otherwise, democratic institutions—including the Judiciary—shall become weakened.

*Perspective Chapter: Corruption and Deterioration of Democracy – The Brazilian Lesson DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106194*
