Former Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, takes part during the seminar "Democracy and Social Justice" promoted by the "Progressive Alliance" and hosted by "Workers Party" (PT, for its acronym in Spanish), in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 25, 2016. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Ministry of Justice decided on Friday to accept a denouncement against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for obstruction of justice in the Petrobras scandal.
According to the prosecution, Lula and six other people are accused of trying to hinder investigations by bribing Nestor Cervero, former director of international affairs for state-run oil giant Petrobras, who had turned in evidence in the scandal known as "Carwash Operation."
In over two years of investigations, this is the first time Lula has been formally accused.
His defense attorneys released a statement saying that he "never interfered or tried to interfere in the statements related to the Carwash Operation."
"The accusation is based exclusively on the statement given by a confessed criminal with no credibility, who made a deal with the prosecution in order to be granted house arrest," the statement said.
According to investigators, Cervero was promised he could escape from Brazil to Spain if he kept quiet about Lula's involvement in the scheme.
"This criminal organization could never have worked for so many years, in such an ample and aggressive manner in the federal government, without Lula's participation," Chief Federal Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot said.
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Brazilian Supreme Court judge sends case against Lula to local court
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Teori Zavascki determined that a case against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be dealt with by the federal court in the capital city of Brasilia.
Lula is accused of obstructing justice by allegedly trying to bribe Nestor Cervero, former director of Petrobras' International Department, to keep his silence in a corruption scandal involving the company. Full story
Brazil's prosecutor denounces former president Lula for obstruction in Petrobras case
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Public Prosecutor's Office denounced former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for allegedly obstructing the course of justice during the investigations into the corruption scandal in Petrobras, local media reported Thursday.
TV Globo, which obtained the complaint against Lula from the public prosecutor, disclosed that the former president (2003-2010) teamed up with an entrepreneur closely linked to a corruption network in order to offer 250,000 reais (71,000 U.S. dollars) to Petrobras' former International Director, Nestor Cervero, and he did not declare this before the justice system. Full story
