SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's attorney general is urging the country's top court to reject a request by former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to stay out of prison while he appeals a corruption conviction.

Attorney General Raquel Dodge on Tuesday called Da Silva's habeas corpus request an "exaggeration." She also said justice would be failed by delaying da Silva's conviction.

The Supreme Federal Tribunal is expected to make a decision on the request on Wednesday.

Da Silva leads preference polls for October's presidential election, but was convicted last year of trading favors with a construction company for a promised beachfront apartment. The conviction was upheld in January by an appeals court, which increased the sentence to 12 years and one month.

Da Silva maintains his innocence.