(Reuters) - Lawyers for Brazil's former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said on Friday they will ask courts to release him temporarily from jail so he can attend the funeral of his 7-year-old grandson who died hours earlier.
According to Lula's press office, he has yet to be informed about the death of his grandson, Arthur, from meningitis. The former president has been imprisoned in the southern city of Curitiba, serving a 12-year sentence for a graft conviction.
The boy was son of Sandro Luis Lula da Silva, one of Lula's four sons with his late wife Marisa Letícia. Lula also has a daughter from a previous relationship.
It is the second loss of a family member for the former Brazil head this year.
In January, Lula's brother Genival Inácio da Silva, known as "Vavá," passed away. At that time, lawyers also sought Lula's temporary release to attend that funeral. Lower courts rejected the request but the Supreme Court allowed it.
However the former president chose to remain in prison rather than comply with conditions set for the release, including that his brother's body be brought to a military installation with restricted access to the public.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by David Gregorio)