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| Brazil's Lula faces trial linked to Petrobras scandal | Brazil's Lula faces trial linked to Petrobras scandal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former president of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is to go on trial for obstruction of justice in a case related to the scandal at state oil firm Petrobras, court documents show. | Former president of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is to go on trial for obstruction of justice in a case related to the scandal at state oil firm Petrobras, court documents show. |
| The multi-billion-dollar affair has already seen dozens of politicians and officials arrested. | The multi-billion-dollar affair has already seen dozens of politicians and officials arrested. |
| Lula is accused of hampering Operation Car Wash, the investigation into the scandal. | Lula is accused of hampering Operation Car Wash, the investigation into the scandal. |
| Lula, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2011, has denied any wrongdoing. | Lula, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2011, has denied any wrongdoing. |
| Andre Esteves, the former head of investment bank Grupo BTG Pactual SA, has also been charged with obstructing justice, the documents from a federal court in Brasilia showed. | |
| In May, Brazil's Attorney General Rodrigo Janot accused the former president of playing a key role in the Petrobras case, which is estimated to have cost the company more than $2bn (£1.5bn). | |
| He said the corruption could not have taken place without Lula's participation. | |
| Lula made a comeback to frontline Brazilian politics in March, when President Dilma Rousseff nominated him as her chief of staff. | |
| But a judge then suspended his nomination saying it had been aimed at protecting him from possible prosecution. | |
| Operation Car Wash was launched two years ago by prosecutors focusing initially on money laundering. | |
| They say that their investigations have since uncovered a complex corruption scheme at Petrobras. | |
| Prosecutors allege the scandal was used to finance the electoral campaigns of senior Brazilian politicians. | |
| Several politicians and Petrobras executives have been arrested and sentenced. | |
| Some of them have agreed to testify against other suspects in exchange for more lenient sentences, taking the investigation to a new level. |