Judge rejects Brazil’s Lula da Silva request to avoid prison

The Superior Court of Justice building in Brasília (Photo By Luis Dantas – Own work, Public Domain)

RIO DE JANEIRO— A high court judge on Tuesday rejected a request by lawyers for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to block his arrest for a graft conviction that was upheld last week.

Attorney Cristiano Zanin asked the Superior Court of Justice in the capital of Brasilia to prevent arrest of the left-leaning politician until all his appeals have been heard. Hours later, Justice Humberto Martins denied the request, saying there was no immediate threat of arrest for da Silva, who was president in 2003-2010.

A three-judge panel voted unanimously last week to uphold da Silva’s corruption and money laundering conviction and increased his sentence from 9 1/2 years to 12 years and one month in prison. One of the judges said then that the former president should be arrested as soon as the court explains details of the ruling to the defence, a process that usually takes a month.

Prosecutors say da Silva was promised an apartment as a payoff from a construction company in return for government contracts. He denies any wrongdoing and says the trial, which was one of the fastest to go through the court based in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, was rigged.

Da Silva’s appeal could ultimately be heard by the country’s highest court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, also in Brasilia.

Lawyers for the former president, who is the front-runner for this year’s October presidential election, say his conviction was unconstitutional. They argue there was no evidence that links him to the promise of receiving the apartment where he never lived and visited only once.

Even if the once-hugely popular leader avoids jail for now, he is less likely to run in the election now that the conviction has been upheld. Brazil’s electoral law says candidates should be barred if they have criminal convictions maintained by courts like the one that heard da Silva’s appeal last week.