Former Brazil president asks for release, accuses judge of bias

RIO DE JANEIRO - The defense team of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday made a new requirement to release him from jail.

The petition filed with Brazil's highest court accused Sergio Moro, the judge who convicted Lula, of bias by accepting a nomination for Justice Ministry under President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's administration.

Lula and Bolsonaro were the top two candidates in this year's presidential race. All polls showed Lula was much ahead of Bolsonaro and other candidates and had higher chances of winning the presidential election in the first round.

Hovwever, Moro's decision to jail Lula left him ineligible according to the Brazilian law.

Lula was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in the form of a luxury beachfront apartment, in return for granting the company juicy public works contracts.

His supporters say the accusations were politically motivated to prevent Lula from running for a third term.

Bolsonaro won the election in October. After the election, Moro was announced as the future justice minister.

According to Lula's lawyers, Moro has proved to be partial and was acting out of his own interests and notorious enmity towards the ex-president, instead of judging according to the evidence.

Lula's defense team said evidence on the case were superficial at best and in no way justified the conviction. The lawyers also requested to prevent Lula from being judged by Moro in the future.