Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former president of Brazil has been sentenced 12 year prison term from Friday, and the Judge, Sergio Moro,gave him 24 hours to surrender to police.Moro is the head of Brazil’s huge “Car Wash” anti-graft probe.

Lula, 72, was once one of the most popular politicians on the planet and he easily leads polls in Brazil’s October presidential election. His incarceration will throw the race completely open.

Moro’s office said that in view of Lula’s stature as a former president, he would have “the opportunity to present himself voluntarily” to police in the city of Curitiba, where the “Car Wash” probe is based, by 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday.There was no immediate reaction from Lula, who had been described earlier by supporters as facing his jailing calmly.

Lula had been due to address a Workers’ Party rally in the city on Friday afternoon, but that event would now coincide with Moro’s surrender deadline.He petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday to be allowed to remain free while pursuing appeals in higher courts against his conviction for receiving a seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction company. A lower court appeal failed this January.

However, the Supreme Court judges ruled 6-5 in a marathon session that under the law, Lula must begin his sentence after having lost that first appeal.Still, it had been widely expected that with more technical appeals, Lula would start his sentence only sometime next week at the earliest.

Brazil’s left is furious at the Supreme Court ruling, seeing Lula’s imminent imprisonment as a plot to prevent the Workers’ Party from returning to power. Party leader Gleisi Hoffmann said the court ruling violated “constitutional law and the presumption of innocence” and made Brazil “look like a little banana republic.”

However, there were celebrations on the right and among prosecutors supporting the epic “Car Wash” probe, which has revealed high-level corruption throughout Brazilian business and politics over the last four years.

To them, Lula epitomizes Brazil’s corruption-riddled elite. His conviction on charges of accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe is “Car Wash’s” biggest scalp by far.

Lula, who grew up poor and with little formal education before becoming a trade union leader and politician, says he will go down fighting.

Analysts say that his election hopes have now been dealt a body blow. But he is not necessarily knocked out.

In theory, once someone has been convicted and lost their lower court appeal, they are barred from running for office under Brazil’s clean slate law. But the issue will not be decided for months.

Lula has until mid-August to register his candidacy and only after that will the Superior Electoral Tribunal rule on whether his candidacy is valid.

Pathway for Nigeria:


Also,today ,Friday April 6,2018, former president Jacob Zuma of South Africa,is in court,for corruption charges.

But in Nigeria, where various ‘’wars’’ had been declared against corruption, all instances abound where past leaders are never made to account for their financial stewardship, yet not every past president or head of state, was devoid of one financial scandal or the other. It has become an ‘’unwritten law’’ that every past leader is untouchable and continued to enjoy ‘’immunity’’ against prosecution even long after exiting office.

Financial Digest opine that, until the corruption tolerance level, at the utmost top, is set at zero, the so called fight would continue to be a big joke. The tone at the top,sets the agenda for lower ranks.Past and present leaders must be made to face justice where culpable. The immunity clause is doing Nigeria no good.

The hiring and firing of the EFCC chairman, should be the sole responsibility of the people, through their representatives at the National Assembly, the president must not be involved. This will detach and remove all emotional links of the EFCC chair with the president and thus make any plausible prosecution of the latter very easy, even after exiting office.

Death sentence or a life imprisonment for corruption, is not out of pace with the deep rooted and cancerous level of corruption in Nigeria.

https://www.financialdigest.com.ng

So U want Buhari to send obasanjo to prison Wait till eternity!

bjayx:
So U want Buhari to send obasanjo to prison Wait till eternity!

OBJ, GEJ, Abdusalami