VOA慢速英语--巴西高等法院驳回卢拉延缓入狱请求

Brazil High Court Rejects Lula Appeal to Stay Out of Jail

Brazil’s highest court rejected former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s request Thursday to not go to prison. He is appealing a corruption¹ conviction. He faces a 12-year sentence for accepting bribes³. He may be jailed within one week.

Lula is still Brazil’s most popular politician. He served as president from 2003 to 2011. He is now leading in all public opinion studies for the presidential election this October. But his conviction will likely prevent him from running.

The decision against Lula may seriously affect the future political career of Brazil’s first working-class president. Lula rose from working in a factory to the highest political office in the country.

But corruption charges have strongly influenced the political environment in Brazil, especially Lula’s Workers Party. The party held power from 2003 to 2016.

Lula’s conviction was upheld on a first appeal. Under Brazilian law, a candidate is not permitted to run for elected office for eight years once found guilty of a crime. Some exceptions have been made in the past. But the final decision in Lula’s case would be made by the top electoral court if he officially files to be a candidate. He has said he wants to run for the presidency⁴ again in October.

Lula oversaw⁵ years of strong economic growth in Brazil. His supporters see the conviction as an attempt to stop him from returning to power.

Lula was found guilty of corruption in August 2017. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes worth $1 million from the engineering company OAS. Prosecutors⁶ said the money was spent on an apartment for Lula. In return, Lula helped OAS establish business agreements with the state-run oil company Petrobras.

In January, all the members of an appeals court upheld his conviction. The court increased the prison sentence from 10 years to 12 years.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in this Story

bribe² – n. something valuable such as money that is given in order to get someone to do something

conviction – n. the act of proving that a person is guilty of a crime in a court of law

working-class – adj. the class of people who earn money by doing usually physical work and who are not rich or powerful

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

3 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。