Brazil judge releases damaging Workers Party testimony

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A judge released fresh testimony on Monday alleging corrupt practices involving members of Brazil's Workers Party (PT), whose candidate Fernando Haddad faces far-right lawmaker Jair Bolsonaro in this month's presidential election.

Anti-corruption judge Sergio Moro unsealed the plea-bargain testimony of jailed former Finance Minister Antonio Palocci stating that PT founder and then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered the collection of bribe money in 2010 to fund the campaign of his successor Dilma Rousseff.

Lawyers for Lula, who was jailed in April and barred from running for office due to a corruption conviction, said publication of the testimony was politically motivated to harm Lula and his party.

Brazilians will vote on Sunday in the most polarized election in a generation, and the Workers Party could return to office despite corruption cases against its leaders and allies. The Palocci testimony could increase anti-Workers Party sentiment, which has helped make Bolsonaro the frontrunner in the race.

Brazilian presidential candidate for the Worker's Party (PT) Fernando Haddad (L), shakes hands with a supporter as he campaigns at the entrance of the Volkswagen plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo, September 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

Haddad has surged in voter support to six points behind Bolsonaro since he was confirmed as Lula's replacement, according to opinion polls. The polls indicate the Workers Party candidate could win a likely second-round runoff vote on October 28.

Palocci resigned as Rousseff's chief of staff in 2011 after only five months due to a corruption accusation.

In the testimony made public on Monday, he said he attended a meeting in 2010 where Lula ordered the then chief executive of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, José Sérgio Gabrielli, to commission 40 drill ships and use bribe money from the contracts to fund Rousseff's campaign.

(Top photo: Brazilian Federal Judge Sergio Moro stands for a photograph before an interview in New York, May 16, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters