Brazil's biggest corruption scandal: 25 defendants sentenced

Brazil's Supreme Court on December 17 concluded the "trial of the century" after convicting 25 politicians and businessmen, including three sitting congressmen, in a political corruption scandal that was considered the country's biggest and once rocked the government of President Luiz Lula da Silva.

Of the 37 defendants, the Court found 25 guilty, sentenced to a total of 279 years in prison, along with a fine of nearly 20 million Real (about 10 million USD).

Scene of the trial on December 17 (Source: Agencia Brasil)

Among the politicians sentenced to prison are several figures who were once members of the leadership of the Workers' Party (PT) and were very close to former President Lula, such as Mr. José Dirceu, former Minister-Chief of the Presidential Office and once considered Mr. Lula's "right-hand man", and former PT President José Genoino.

Mr Dirceu was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison. He was accused of leading a network that bribed lawmakers to support the government during Mr Lula's first term (2003-2007) and illegally financed the election campaign that allowed the leader to win.

Among the sitting lawmakers jailed was João Paulo Cunha, of the PT and speaker of the lower house during the corruption scandal. He was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison.

Lula, the founder of the PT, has not been put on trial and has consistently denied knowledge of the existence of such illegal activity. In a statement before the trial, the PT insisted there was no vote-buying or monthly bribes to get lawmakers to vote in favor of the government in parliament.

PT accused the opposition and the press of carrying out a campaign against the ruling party through this trial. PT is ready to help pay the court-imposed fines of the four accused party members, totaling 1.5 million Real (about $750,000).

The trial opened on August 2 and was broadcast live on television. However, the case did not attract much public attention and PT’s reputation was not affected.

Even the PT was the party that won the most votes in the local elections in October, while the trial was in a "hot" phase, and according to recent public opinion surveys, Mr. Lula himself and current President Dilma Rousseff continue to receive widespread support from the people./.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT