Brazil politicians headed for jail in landmark bribery case A group of senior Brazilian politicians have surrendered themselves to police to begin prison sentences for corruption in a landmark case in Latin America's biggest country. The politicians, convicted of a vote-buying scheme in Congress that used public funds to pay bribes, include the former senior management team of ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. "The worst of injustices is that committed by the justice system itself," said José Dirceu, Mr Lula da Silva's former chief of staff, in a statement protesting his innocence. He thrust his fist in to the air in defiance as he handed himself in to the federal police over the weekend. The commencement of the jail sentences of Dirceu, a senior figure in Brazil's ruling Workers Party, and those of 11 others convicted in the case is an unprecedented event in the history of modern Brazilian democracy. In a country in which the rich and powerful have ruled with near impunity for centuries, those convicted in the scandal, known as the Mensalão or big monthly payment, are among the first Brazilian politicians to serve time in prison for corruption in recent decades. Aside from Dirceu, those handing themselves in at the weekend included former PT president José Genoino and former PT treasurer Delúbio Soares. They were sentenced by the Supreme Court last year to jail but had not yet begun serving sentences after several filed appeals. However, after a fierce debate last week, the Supreme Court ruled that they should start their prison terms immediately. "I reiterate that I'm innocent, I have not committed any crime," said Genoino in a statement. I consider myself a political prisoner. Dirceu said the court had not presented concrete evidence against him and had not taken into consideration his record as a fighter for democracy against Brazil's former military dictatorship, which ended in 1984. I was imprisoned during the military dictatorship. I will [now] be a political prisoner in a democracy under the control of elites," he said. The case dates from a vote-buying scheme in 2003 and 2004 that came out into the open in 2005. Neither Mr Lula da Silva or his anointed successor, President Dilma Rousseff, have been implicated in the scandal. Mr Lula da Silva apologised for the scam when it first became public in 2005 and promised to bring to justice those responsible. Ms Rousseff's popularity ratings have also not been affected by the case, partially because she has chosen not to interfere in the ruling, analysts say. This has helped burnish her anti-corruption credentials after she fired several ministers in her first year in government in 2011 for alleged irregularities.