BRASÍLIA – A Brazilian Supreme Court judge blocked ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from becoming presidential chief of staff and sent the corruption case against him back to criminal court.
The ruling by judge Gilmar Mendes, which can be appealed to the full high court, came after a flurry of court challenges to Lula’s appointment were filed. They allege that his nomination was aimed at saving him from arrest in an explosive probe into a multi-billion-dollar corruption scam at state oil giant Petrobras.
 

Source:  AFP, 19  March 2016