国际英语新闻:Brazil's Lula refuses to move to semi-open prison

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday rejected to move to a semi-open prison after spending a year and a half in a cell.

Brazilian prosecutors who put Lula da Silva behind bars requested last week that Lula be moved from a regular closed prison to a semi-open one.

However, Lula considered the request a sort of bargain and refused to be moved if his innocence is not declared. In a letter released to the public earlier on Monday, Lula said he will not accept bargaining with his rights and freedom.

He reaffirmed his hope that the Supreme Court will overturn what he said was "arbitrary" sentence.

Lula has been serving an eight-year-and-ten-month sentence for corruption and money laundering since April 2018.

According to Lula's lawyer Cristiano Zanin, though Lula has the right to be moved to a semi-open prison, Brazilian courts cannot force him to do so.