HAVANA TIMES – Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was handed a second prison sentence for corruption on Wednesday, reported dpa new on Wednesday.
Judge Gabriela Hardt sentenced Lula to 12 years and 11 months in prison for graft and money laundering.
Prosecutors had argued that a house he was using in Atibaia near Sao Paulo was renovated by the corruption-tarnished construction giant Odebrecht and two other companies in exchange for contracts with the state oil giant Petrobras.
Lula’s defense pledged to appeal the sentence.
The 73-year-old had already been handed a jail term of nearly the same length on similar charges.
He was jailed in April for 12 years and one month, after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering in connection with the renovation of a beachside penthouse he was planning to buy.
Both cases are linked to the massive Lava Jato graft scandal surrounding Petrobras, which has implicated dozens of business executives and politicians.
Lula’s imprisonment, which his supporters say is a politically motivated plot, prevented him from contesting the October presidential election and favored far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who was sworn in as president on January 1.
A working-class president, Lula oversaw strong economic growth and falling inequality during his 2003-2011 rule. His social policies earned him soaring popularity ratings, even as concern grew about corruption in his government.
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