Former Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s conviction on corruption charges is not a political statement, but an enforcement of the law demonstrative of Brazil’s commitment to combat corruption at the highest levels of society, Brazilian Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot said at the Atlantic Council this week.
The Brazilian central bank has frozen four bank accounts belonging to ex-President Lula da Silva due to his recent conviction on corruption charges, the federal judge who heard his case said on Wednesday.
The former Brazilian president Lula da Silva responded defiantly to his conviction on corruption charges by formally launching his candidacy for next year’s presidential election.
Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who rose from childhood poverty to become a two-term president, was convicted on corruption charges on Wednesday in the first of five graft trials he faces.He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. He will remain free on appeal.
Three ex Brazilian presidents are holding talks on the future of the country following what seems the inevitable outcome of the current political situation with deep differences between the political system and the Judiciary.
President Michel Temer faced new pressure to resign Friday, after Brazil’s supreme court said prosecutors are investigating him for obstruction of justice and corruption, and a government witness claimed his company paid US$1.5 million to Temer in bribes. A day after the release of surreptitious audio recordings in which Temer seemed to condone a criminal cover up in the “Car Wash” investigation, the court released testimony accusing him of soliciting illegal payments from meatpacking firm JBS.
Brazil's President Michel Temer faced calls for his removal Wednesday after a newspaper reported that he had been recorded discussing payments of hush money to a corrupt politician. Temer immediately denied the report in O Globo newspaper.
Ex Brazilian President Lula da Silva's combative testimony before a federal judge this week did little to dismantle the graft case against him and improve his chances of securing a new term in office. Lula, a founder of the leftist Workers Party (PT) that controlled Brazil's presidency from 2003 until last year, can only run in next year's presidential election if he avoids a conviction that is upheld on appeal.
Brazil's former president Lula da Silva called the corruption trial threatening to end his storied career a “farce” during almost five hours of testimony on Wednesday. Lula is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a kickback from the OAS construction company, and if found guilty could be barred from running for office and even jailed, destroying his hopes of coming back to power in the 2018 presidential elections.
When Brazil's former President Lula da Silva and Judge Sergio Moro meet for the first time in a courtroom on Wednesday, contrasts and stakes could hardly be greater. One is the country's most popular president ever and the front-runner in next year's election - a former union leader who still whips up crowds with his fiery and folksy oratory.