FORMER Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is clear to run against Jair Bolsonaro in next year’s presidential election as the Supreme Court upheld a verdict annulling his corruption convictions.

The majority decision came on Thursday after Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin determined in early March that the lower federal court where Lula was tried had lacked jurisdiction.

The defeat of the subsequent appeal by Brazil’s top prosecutor was branded historic by Lula’s lawyers.