PRISON TERM FOR GRAFT BUMPED UP FOR FORMER PRESIDENT

BRAZIL

PORTO ALEGRE An appellate court on Wednesday delivered a significant blow to Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, unanimously upholding a graft conviction against him and even adding years to his prison sentence in a major decision that could keep the 72- year- old former leader from running for a third term despite holding a lead in the polls.

The ruling was the latest legal setback for da Silva, who was wildly popular as president between 2003 and 2010.

The court ruled that the prison term should be 12 years and one month, an increase of more than two years from the sentence levelled in July.

“I consider the culpability in the case extremely high,” said Judge Joao Pedro Gebran Neto. “This is about a former president and a corruption scheme that prevailed for years.”