Brazil: Ex-leader Lula appears in court in corruption case
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is being questioned by a top anti-corruption judge over allegations he accepted bribes. He is suspected of letting construction giant Odebrecht buy the land for his Sao Paulo institute and providing him with an apartment nearby. Lula denies the accusation. He is being questioned by Judge Sergio […]
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is being questioned by a top anti-corruption judge over allegations he accepted bribes.
He is suspected of letting construction giant Odebrecht buy the land for his Sao Paulo institute and providing him with an apartment nearby.
Lula denies the accusation. He is being questioned by Judge Sergio Moro in a court in the southern city of Curitiba.
Polls suggest he is the would-be front-runner for the 2018 elections.
In July, Judge Moro sentenced Lula to nine and a half years in prison for accepting bribes from engineering firm OAS in the form of a beachfront apartment in return for his help in winning contracts with Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras.
Lula remains free while he is appealing against the sentence. Unless his appeal succeeds, he will not be able to stand for the 2018 election.
He is also fighting four other corruption cases brought against him.