Former Senator Delcídio do Amaral described as “surreal” the notion that former President Lula da Silva was not aware of a giant corruption scheme active during his tenure, in testimony on Monday marking the start of the trial against the man that ran Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
Brazil’s top prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into opposition Senator Aécio Neves, the country’s leading opposition figure, as the vast Petrobras corruption probe engulfed more politicians. Neves, who narrowly lost the 2014 presidential election to Dilma Rousseff, was previously included in a list of some 50 politicians thought to have taken bribes originating from state-run companies.