(UTV|COLOMBO) – Brazil’s top Electoral Court has ruled that jailed former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cannot run as a candidate in the Presidential Election because of his corruption conviction.
Judges voted against his running in October’s ballot by a majority of six votes to one in the seven-member Court.
Lula, 72, was leading in polls ahead of the vote despite serving a 12-year jail term for accepting a bribe.
His legal team has said they will appeal against the Court’s decision.
Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT) later responded to the Court’s decision in a statement, saying it would “Fight by all means” for Lula’s candidacy.
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