Former Brazilian president - Lula convicted on corruption

The former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula have been sentenced to nine and half years imprisonment on Wednesday in first of five graft trials he faces

But he will remain free on appeal

This was a president that won admiration for inculcating social qualities that wiped out singing inequalities in Latin America

The former president of the United States of America (USA) Barack Obama once named him the most popular politician on earth,

Lula who left office six years ago with rating of 83% approval on rating was Brazil's first working class president.

Judge Sergio Moro found Lula guilty for accepting 1.2 million Dollars (3.7 million reais) worth of bribes from engineering firms OAS SA