Brazil's Lula Loses Procedural Appeals, Faces Prison
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian appeals court rejected on Monday final procedural objections raised by lawyers of former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva against his conviction for corruption, raising the possibility that he will soon be jailed.
However, Lula will not be imprisoned until the country's Supreme Court decides on April 4 whether to accept his request that he be allowed to exhaust his appeals process before landing in jail.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that defendants should begin serving prison sentences after their conviction was upheld on a first appeal. However, several members of the court are pressing to revisit that decision and perhaps reverse it.
Lula, Brazil's first working-class leader, remains the most popular politician in Latin America's biggest nation. He oversaw years of robust growth and falling inequality during a commodity boom last decade, and wants to run again for president.
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