Judge rejects Brazil’s Lula da Silva request to avoid prison

RIO DE JANEIRO — A high court judge on Tuesday rejected a request by lawyers for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to block his arrest for a graft conviction that was upheld last week.

Attorney Cristiano Zanin asked the Superior Court of Justice in the capital of Brasilia to prevent arrest of the left-leaning politician until all his appeals have been heard. Hours later, Justice Humberto Martins denied the request, saying there was no immediate threat of arrest for da Silva, who was president in 2003-2010.

A three-judge panel voted unanimously last week to uphold da Silva’s corruption and money laundering conviction and increased his sentence from 9 1/2 years to 12 years and one month in prison. One of the judges said then that the former president should be arrested as soon as the court explains details of the ruling to the defence, a process that usually takes a month.

Prosecutors say da Silva was promised an apartment as a payoff from a construction company in return for government contracts. He denies any wrongdoing and says the trial, which was one of the fastest to go through the court based in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, was rigged.