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| Brazil's ex-President Lula convicted of corruption | Brazil's ex-President Lula convicted of corruption |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. | |
| The judge ruled he could remain free pending an appeal. | The judge ruled he could remain free pending an appeal. |
| Lula has rejected claims that he received an apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to state oil company Petrobras. | |
| He says the trial is politically motivated and has strongly denied any wrongdoing. | |
| The case is the first of five charges against him. | The case is the first of five charges against him. |
| Running again? | |
| Lula served eight years as president until 2011 and has expressed interest in running again in next year's elections for the left-wing Workers' Party. | |
| On Wednesday, a judge found him guilty of accepting bribes from engineering firm OAS in the form of a beachfront apartment in return for his help in winning contracts with the state oil company. | On Wednesday, a judge found him guilty of accepting bribes from engineering firm OAS in the form of a beachfront apartment in return for his help in winning contracts with the state oil company. |
| The head of the Workers' Party, Senator Gleisi Hoffmann, hit out at the ruling, saying it was designed to stop Lula standing for office. | |
| She said the party would protest against the decision. | |
| The BBC's Katy Watson in Sao Paulo says Lula remains a popular politician and the sentence will deeply divide Brazil. | |
| The charges Lula faces all relate to the Car Wash scandal, the nickname for Brazil's biggest ever corruption probe. | The charges Lula faces all relate to the Car Wash scandal, the nickname for Brazil's biggest ever corruption probe. |
| Operation Car Wash was launched three years ago amid escalating public anger over political corruption. | |
| The investigation centres on firms that were allegedly offered deals with Petrobras in exchange for bribes, which were funnelled into politicians' pockets and party slush funds. | |
| Lula, a former steel worker turned union leader, came to office as the first left-wing leader in Brazil in nearly half a century. | |
| He was Brazil's most popular president during his tenure - former US President Barack Obama labelled him the most popular politician on Earth. | |
| Unable to stand for a third consecutive term, he was succeeded by close ally Dilma Rousseff, who was later impeached. | |
| Current President Michel Temer also faces corruption allegations and is resisting calls for him to step down. |