Brazil freezes assets of ex-president

A Brazilian judge leading an anti-corruption probe has ordered assets belonging to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva frozen after last week convicting and sentencing him to prison for graft.

Lula, as he is widely known, remains free pending an appeal of the verdict. He denies any wrongdoing and says he will attempt a political comeback next year by running for president.

Ordering the asset freeze, Judge Sergio Moro said, was in response to the charge that Lula accepted a bribe of a luxury beachside apartment and $1.1 million in cash from one of Brazil's biggest construction companies, Odebrecht SA.

Moro put the value of Lula's assets in property and bank accounts as $4.3 million, according to court papers released Wednesday.

They comprised three apartments, a plot of land, two vehicles and two accounts holding more than the equivalent of $190,000.

Lula's lawyers described the move as "illegal," claiming that it impaired the livelihood of the former president and his family, adding they would challenge the decision. His party said the sanctions amounted to "economic suffocation."

Lula was a week ago given a nine-and-a-half-year sentence after his conviction.

The 71-year-old has portrayed the judicial blow as an attempt to keep him out of the running for the presidency.