Brazil's Lula awaits ruling that will decide if he can run

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva awaited today the outcome of his appeal against a corruption conviction -- a ruling that will effectively determine if he can run for re-election this year.
In the tense run-up to the announcement, Lula told supporters Tuesday that he would continue his political fight regardless of the outcome.
Thousands of people rallied in support of the 72-year former leftist president in the southern city of Porto Alegre, where an appeals court is set to rule on his conviction today.
Hugely popular during his two-term presidency from 2001 to 2010, Lula was sentenced in July to nine and a half years behind bars after being convicted of corruption in Brazil's huge "Car Wash" graft scandal.

The appeals court will rule whether to uphold that sentence for passive corruption and money laundering and in the process decide if he can run in an election in October he is favored to win.
"Only one thing will take me off the streets of this country, and it will be the day of my death," Lula told cheering supporters, many wearing the red T-shirts of his Workers' Party (PT).

"Until that moment, I will fight for a more just society. Whatever the outcome of the trial, I will continue fighting for the dignity of the people of this country."

Lula was joined on the podium by his handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached in 2016 for breaking budget rules.
"I am not going to speak today about my trial or about justice, because I have competent lawyers who have proven my innocence," he said.
"I come here to talk about Brazil," added Lula.
"I have the peace of the innocent, of those who did not commit any crime. Are they afraid of me coming back? They are afraid of the good things we did," he said, referring to his right-wing opponents.
Lula, Rousseff and leftist leaders say they are the victims of a plot by the judicial, political and business sectors to sideline the PT.

Authorities in Porto Alegre have mounted a special security operation to keep opponents and supporters of Lula apart, amid fears of clashes.
Helicopters will overfly the courthouse and even ships are being used to protect the building, located adjacent to a river.
Lula will follow the ruling from his home in Sao Paulo.
Rousseff had earlier denounced what she called the "third stage of the coup" against Lula.