Brazil’s Lula set to face court over graft claims

BRAZIL’S firebrand former leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will answer corruption charges today in a court case that could end his storied career.

The face to face meeting between Lula and Judge Sergio Moro will be a highlight in the giant “Car Wash” graft investigation that has upended Brazilian politics, bringing down some of the country’s most powerful men on both the left and right.

Lula, 71, became an icon of Latin America’s left during a 20032010 presidency that saw Brazil enjoy a commodities-fuelled boom and tens of millions of people lifted out of poverty. Today, he is fighting for his reputation – and the chance of a comeback in elections next year.

He will face questioning over his alleged acceptance of a luxury seaside apartment as a bribe from the OAS construction company. The apartment and other alleged benefits from OAS are said to have been typical of a vast network of bribery in which major firms like OAS paid politicians to obtain influence and secure big deals with the Petrobras state oil company.

Already, senators, former ministers and the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, have been arrested or convicted, while scores more politicians face probes.

Lula denies any wrongdoing, saying there is no proof he had anything to do with the apartment. If he is found guilty when Moro hands down his verdict in an estimated 45 to 60 days, and then loses an appeal, he’d be barred from running for office again and face prison.