Brazil’s Lula ‘can be jailed’

BRASILIA: Brazil’s Supreme Court early on Thursday rejected former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s plea to avoid prison while he appeals a corruption conviction, in a vote that likely ends his political career and deepens divisions in the country.

The pivotal vote was cast by Justice Rosa Weber against Lula’s request to avoid jail and begin serving his 12-year sentence for accepting bribes. Weber was seen as the only swing vote and her decision sealed Lula’s fate.

He may be jailed within a week. Lula is still Brazil’s most popular politician, despite his conviction and six separate pending corruption trials. He is the front-runner in all opinion polls for the presidential election in October, but his conviction will likely bar him from running.

The decision against Lula is a serious blow to the political survival of Brazil’s first working-class president whose career from a factory shop floor to high office is sinking in the corruption scandals that have rocked the political establishment and especially his Workers Party, which held power from 2003 until mid-2016.

Brazilian society remains deeply divided after Lula’s successor, President Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed from office amid a corruption scandal and economic crisis. Lula’s conviction was upheld on a first appeal.