BRASILIA – A Brazilian court on Wednesday turned down ex-president Lula da Silva’s latest appeal against his 12-year sentence for corruption, seemingly putting his bid for a political comeback even farther out of reach.
The court in Porto Alegre tweeted that it had unanimously turned down the appeal, which was of a technical nature and, even if successful, would not have changed Lula’s guilty verdict.
Lula was imprisoned on April 7 to begin his sentence for accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe from the OAS construction company, which was seeking contracts with state-controlled oil major Petrobras.
Lula says he has been framed in order to prevent him from running in October’s presidential election. He currently leads in the opinion polls.
This was his third appeal at the same court and he can now take his case before higher courts. However, Lula, who was president from 2003-2010, faces several other corruption cases.
He faces an August 15 deadline to register as a candidate for the presidency. According to Brazil’s clean slate law, his conviction means he would be barred, but the Superior Electoral Tribunal must make the definitive ruling by September 17.–MercoPress
