Lula Launches Presidential Bid After Graft Conviction Upheld
- Worker’s Party kicks off Lula’s campaign at trade union HQ
- Lula’s corruption sentence extended by appeals court
Brazilian Court Upholds Lula Conviction
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Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accepted his party’s nomination as its presidential candidate in an act of defiance only hours after a Brazilian appeals court increased his jail sentence from nine and half to 12 years in jail.
"I want to be candidate to win the election and govern this country," Lula said on Thursday at the Sao Paulo headquarters of Brazil’s largest trade union, CUT, adding that his trial had been fixed so as to rule him out of the running for the presidency. "We’re going to battle to the end," he said.