Brazil’s ex-presidential chief of staff released from jail

SAO PAULO – Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered the temporary release from jail of former presidential chief of staff Jose Dirceu who has been sentenced to nearly 31 years in jail on corruption charges.

Dirceu served as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s chief of staff from Jan. 2003 to June 2005.

The court ordered Dirceu’s release on Tuesday after accepting his lawyers’ argument that he be allowed to await the outcome of his appeals process in freedom.

Dirceu was convicted in May 2016 on charges of money laundering, corruption and membership of a criminal group, as part of a sweeping anti-corruption investigation that has claimed dozens of Brazil’s political and business elite.