巴西前总统被勒令收监

A Brazilian judge has ordered former President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva to surrender to authorities in the southern city of Curitiba by Friday afternoon to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

The arrest warrant was issued just hours after Brazil's top court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal, voted 6-5 to deny a request by da Silva to stay out of prison while he appealed the conviction.

In a statement, Federal judge Sergio Moro said he was giving da Silva the opportunity to come in of his own accord because he had been president of the nation.

Da Silva was found guilty last year of taking bribes in the form of major renovations on an oceanfront apartment, in return for steering contracts to a construction company. An appeals court upheld the verdict in January.

Da Silva says the corruption charges against him are politically motivated and designed to keep him running for president again in October's election. Despite his conviction and six other pending corruption trials, he is leading in opinion polls. His Workers' Party (PT) described the ruling as "a tragic day for democracy and Brazil".

巴西一名法官命令前总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦(Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva)星期五下午之前向南部城市库里奇巴的当局自首，开始因腐败罪而被判处12年监禁的服刑。

数小时前，巴西最高联邦法院以6比5的票数裁决，驳回了卢拉提出的上诉期间暂不入狱的要求。

联邦法官莫罗在一份声明中说，他给卢拉主动入狱的机会，因为他曾经担任过国家总统。

前总统卢拉去年被判犯有受贿罪，把一系列政府合同包给一家建筑公司，换取的好处是为他一个海边公寓全面翻修。一家上诉法庭今年一月维持原判。

卢拉说，对他的腐败指控是出于政治动机，目的是阻止他今年10月再次参选。卢拉虽然已被判定受贿罪并面临6项其它罪名的庭审，但是仍然在民调中领先。卢拉所在的劳工党宣称，对卢拉的判决是“民主和巴西的悲惨日”。