Brazil's Lula to Testify to Judge Moro in 2nd Round in Court

At high noon local time, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be in court for the second time, facing Judge Sergio Moro, after having been sentenced to nine years and six months by Moro over alleged corruption charges in the Operation Car Wash investigations.

RELATED:
Brazil’s Lula Says His Prosecution Is Politically Motivated

Lula will give defense testimony against accusations that he received bribes in the form of a plot of land in the city of Sao Bernardo and will come a week after former Finance Minister Antonio Palocci, a close adviser to Lula, testified that the charges against him were true.

However, Lula's defense attorneys contest Palocci's allegations, arguing that he was pressured into implicating Lula after having been imprisoned since September 2016 on charges related to a bribery scheme. Palocci is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption and money laundering passed down by Moro in June.

Brazil's Public Federal Ministry has accused Lula of receiving an apartment near his current residence after Odebrecht allegedly paid almost US$4 million for the plot with illegal funds.

Similar to his first testimony before Moro in the southern city of Curitiba, large crowds of supporters are expected to greet Lula upon his arrival to court. Videos of Lula's testimony are scheduled to be made public later tonight.