Brazil’s Supreme Court confirmed a decision to annul corruption convictions against former president Lula da Silva. Now he can run in the presidential elections in 2022.
Lula da Silva spent about two years in prison and was released at the end of 2019.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the court’s decision.
According to the investigation, Lula da Silva is the legal owner of a house and land in Atibaia near Sao Paulo. At the same time, this property is officially registered to the associates of the former president.
Prosecutors claimed that the president bought the house with illegally obtained funds, or private companies donated the house to Lula in exchange for patronage.
The former president said he wanted to buy the property, but the owner refused to sell it.
Lula da Silva is the first Brazilian president to be prosecuted for corruption. He was jailed.
In April 2018 Brazil’s Supreme Court decided to reduce his prison sentence to 8 years and 10 months.
In November 2019 Lula da Silva has been released from prison after a supreme court ruling that defendants should only be imprisoned if they had exhausted all appeal options.
