On 25 February 1981 a São Paulo military court tried Luis Inacio da Silva (known as “Lula”) and 12 other members of the metal workers’ union on charges under the Law of National Security. The charges related to a six-week strike by metal workers in São Paulo in 1980. Amnesty International expressed concern that although neither the defendants nor their lawyers were present in the court, the judge proceeded to try them in absentia.
