Lula da Silva is sentenced to 12 years in prison

Brazil's highest court denied the habeas corpus preventive to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil, so he will continue his trial in prison pending his appeal for a conviction for corruption, a ruling that could radically alter elections presidential elections in the largest nation in Latin America. The vote of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court was six votes against five, where the president of that body, Cármen Lúcia, was in charge of casting the tie-breaking vote. Lula, who enjoyed immense popularity after two terms at the head of the country between 2003 and 2010, was convicted last year for helping a construction company to obtain contracts in exchange for the promise that he would receive a beachfront apartment. Judge Sergio Moro, responsible for the cases derived from Operation Lava Jato, the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Brazil, was in charge of issuing the sentence. Moro is considered a hero by many, while his detractors accuse him of being partisan. The ex-leader has always maintained his innocence, noting that this case, like other corruption charges pending trial, are attempts to keep him out of the presidential race. Despite the legal problems that have angered some Brazilians, polls give Lula a favorite to seize power. Lula's lawyers argued that his client has the constitutional right to remain free until all possible appeals are exhausted, but in an unrelated case of 2016, the high court disagreed with that line of argument, ruling that a convicted person should begin to comply sentence after the denial of the first appeal. On Tuesday, thousands of people took to the streets of cities like Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Brasilia to demonstrate in favor and against the STF granting a "habeas corpus" to the former president on Wednesday to prevent him from entering prison. Despite being sentenced to 12 years and one month in prison for corruption. The STF, composed of 11 judges elected by the head of the State, some of them by Lula himself when he was president (2003-2010), will decide today on the appeal, which could create jurisprudence and benefit en bloc convicts in the operation Lava Jato, a judicial investigation for corruption.

• 2018-04-05T10:46:16+00:00
• Duration: 02:12

• nota
• Noticias
• Noticia
• Brasil
• SaoPaulo
• LulaDaSilva

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