Sao Paulo: Brazil's Supreme Court is expected to make a decision on Wednesday on the request of former president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to stay out of prison while he appeals a corruption conviction.

The country's attorney general is urging the top court to reject a request for habeas corpus calling it an "exaggeration" of the right of appeal.

Attorney-General Raquel Dodge said justice would be failed by delaying Lula's conviction.

He was found guilty last year of trading favours with a construction company for a promised beachfront apartment. The conviction was upheld in January by an appeals court, which increased the sentence from nine to 12 years and one month.