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Former Brazilian president Lula to stand trial on obstruction charges
Source: The Guardian
Former Brazilian president Lula to stand trial on obstruction charges
Judge says sufficient evidence exists that Workers’ party
conspired with politicians and businessmen to buy silence
of former Petrobras official
Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro
Friday 29 July 2016 21.10 BST
A week before Brazil hosts the Olympic Games, a judge has ratcheted up political tensions in the country by ordering former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to stand trial on charges of obstructing justice during a vast corruption investigation at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras.
The court case against the Workers’ party founder – who in 2009 helped to win the Olympic bid for Rio de Janeiro – is likely to cast a shadow over the sporting spectacle and adds to a wave of problems engulfing the country, including a political crisis, the worst recession in decades, pollution fears and the Zika epidemic.
Lula is accused of conspiring to buy the silence of a former Petrobras director, Nestor Cerveró, who was arrested last year as part of the vast – and still ongoing – Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation into corruption at the state-run oil company.
Ricardo Leite, a federal court judge in Brasília, announced on Friday that there was sufficient evidence to begin criminal proceedings against Lula and six other suspects.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Judge says sufficient evidence exists that Workers’ party
conspired with politicians and businessmen to buy silence
of former Petrobras official
Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro
Friday 29 July 2016 21.10 BST
A week before Brazil hosts the Olympic Games, a judge has ratcheted up political tensions in the country by ordering former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to stand trial on charges of obstructing justice during a vast corruption investigation at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras.
The court case against the Workers’ party founder – who in 2009 helped to win the Olympic bid for Rio de Janeiro – is likely to cast a shadow over the sporting spectacle and adds to a wave of problems engulfing the country, including a political crisis, the worst recession in decades, pollution fears and the Zika epidemic.
Lula is accused of conspiring to buy the silence of a former Petrobras director, Nestor Cerveró, who was arrested last year as part of the vast – and still ongoing – Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation into corruption at the state-run oil company.
Ricardo Leite, a federal court judge in Brasília, announced on Friday that there was sufficient evidence to begin criminal proceedings against Lula and six other suspects.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/29/lula-da-silva-trial-obstruction-petrobras-corruption
