In Brazil, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been charged again in a major corruption investigation. According to the prosecutors, donations from construction company Odebrecht to Lula’s organization were actually bribes. Lula is said to have accepted the money in exchange for government orders.
Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, was released a year ago after a conviction in another corruption case. He was sentenced to long imprisonment, but the Supreme Court finally ruled that he, and others, had to be released because not all legal remedies had been exhausted. The case is still under appeal.
Lawyers for the left-wing Lula have responded with surprise to the latest charges. According to them, there is no evidence, the prosecution would be politically motivated.
Because of his previous conviction, Lula was unable to run in the 2018 presidential election. Polls at the time identified him as the obvious winner, but Jair Bolsonaro took the win. Lula (74) still has political ambitions, but for that he must first be acquitted by the highest court.
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