OVERZEALOUS PROSECUTION VERSUS RULE OF LAW Even in mature democracies, prosecutors or judges can abuse prosecutions. But overzealous political prosecution is more likely, and potentially more damaging, in emerging democracies where courts and other public institutions may be insufficiently independent from politics. The weaker and more beholden the judiciary, the easier it is for leaders to exploit the system, either to expand their own power or to take down an opponent. Brazil embodies this dilemma. Ex-president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, a former shoeshine boy turned popular leftist, was jailed in 2018 for accepting bribes. Many Brazilians thought his prosecution was a politicised effort to end his career, but Lula was elected in Oct 2022. A year later, the same prosecutorial team accused the conservative former president Michel Temer of accepting millions in bribes. After his term ended in 2019, Temer was arrested; his trial was later suspended. Both Brazilian presidents’ prosecutions were part of a years-long, sweeping anti-corruption probe by the courts that has jailed dozens of politicians. Even the probe’s lead prosecutor is accused of corruption. Depending on the perspective, Brazil’s crisis reveals that nobody is …