Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reacts during a meeting with members of the Workers Party (PT), that decided Lula da Silva will be its candidate again in the 2018 election, despite losing an appeal against a corruption conviction that will likely bar him, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Leonardo Benassatto

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Lawyers for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday appealed a decision to seize the former president’s passport, on the heels of an appeals court ruling upholding his corruption conviction.

The seizure was approved on Thursday, a day after appellate court judges voted to uphold Lula’s convictions for taking a bribe and money laundering, in a major blow to the popular politician’s plans to run again for the presidency this year.

Lula was planning to travel to an African Union conference in Ethiopia. The lawyers claimed the passport seizure violated his constitutional right to freedom of movement.