RIO DE JANEIRO, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The defense team for Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has again appealed to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) for the release of their client, local media reported on Thursday.
Lula, who is serving a 12-year-and-one-month jail sentence for corruption, still aspires to run in upcoming presidential elections in October, and polls show he leads the list of potential candidates.
According to Brazilian magazine Veja, lawyer Cristiano Zanin Martins said his client would be "likely" to be released if the grounds for the appeal were met.
The defense argued the judge presiding over Lula's case, Edson Fachin, made a unilateral and "arbitrary" decision that did not allow Lula's previous appeal to be analyzed by the STF's second court of appeals.
The STF's second court this week decided to release Lula's close aide Jose Dirceu, who was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his role in a graft scheme involving state oil giant Petrobras.
Dirceu's lawyers had asked their client be allowed to remain free while his case made its way through higher courts, an argument Lula's lawyers had also made.
A new poll released showing Lula enjoys 33 percent support among the electorate, more than double the 15 percent received by the next most popular candidate, the ultra-conservative Jair Bolsonaro.
As things now stand, Lula would be barred from running for a third term, but his Workers' Party (PT) maintains him as their sole candidate.
