News / Brazil

Brazilian court seizes ex-president Lula's assets

Thursday, 20 July 2017 3:15 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 21 July 2017 4:12 AM ]

This image purportedly shows former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's apartment building in a beach town near Sao Paulo, Brazil. (File photo)

A Brazilian judge has ordered assets of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be frozen and sold.

Judge Sergio Moro put the value of the assets of Lula, as he is widely known, at $4.3 million, according to court papers released Wednesday.

Lula's assets include three apartments, a plot of land, two vehicles and two bank accounts with more than the equivalent of $190,000.

Lula’s assets will be sold and the proceeds plus the money handed over to the claimant in the corruption case, the state-run oil company Petrobras. He would also be stripped of his political immunity.

Lula's lawyers said his client would appeal the court decision. They described the court's move as "illegal," claiming that it impaired the livelihood of the former president and his family.

Last Wednesday, Lula was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for corruption and money laundering.

Judge Moro found Lula guilty of accepting bribes from engineering firm OAS in the form of a beachfront flat in return for his help in winning contracts with the Petrobras oil company.

The case is the first of five against Lula. In the meantime, Lula remains free pending an appeal of the verdict.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva. (Photo by AFP)

Lula denies any wrongdoing and says he will attempt a political comeback next year by running for president on behalf the left-wing Workers' Party.

The 71-year-old has portrayed the judicial move as an attempt to keep him out of the running for the presidency.

One of the most popular Brazilian leaders of modern times, Lula held power from 2003 to 2010, the maximum two consecutive terms permitted by the constitution.

Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. (File photo)

His protegee and fellow Workers' Party member, Dilma Rousseff, then took the reins, winning two elections. But she was impeached and ousted last year for allegedly tampering government accounts.

Her successor, Michel Temer, who is from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, is accused of taking bribes as well.

Lula supporters rally countrywide

Meanwhile, Lula’s supporters have rallied across Brazil to back the high-spirited politician. Demonstrators rallied on Thursday in the biggest city, São Paulo, and other major cities, including Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Fortaleza.

Addressing the crowd in São Paulo, Lula said his graft conviction in court was an attempt to keep him out of the upcoming presidential race.

“Since they’re not able to defeat me through politics, they want to defeat me with lawsuits,” he said.

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