Opinion

Lula: Conviction was not about the apartment

lula conviction

It doesn’t matter how we feel about the appeal trial of former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The confirmation of the July 2017 corruption and money laundering conviction was expected. The Federal Appellate Court of the 4th region (TRF 4) has traditionally upheld the verdicts delivered by Federal Judge Sérgio Moro, who oversees Operation Car Wash-related cases in lower courts.

Not even the 3-0 ‘score,’ with all three judges imposing a harsher prison sentence on the superstar defendant (12 years and one month, as opposed to the original nine years and six months) was shocking. They found Lula guilty of taking bribes, in the form of a beachfront apartment, from a construction firm.

Now, it is almost certain that Lula won’t be on the presidential ballot in October.

The outcome is a message to Brazilians: unlike higher courts – which are the only ones allowed to prosecute and try politicians at the federal level –...

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