SAO PAULO, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Workers' Party insisted Monday that it plans to register ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its presidential candidate despite his imprisonment.

The registration "gives a political and judicial signal" to those who said the prison sentence would end Lula's political career, Gleisi Hoffman, the party's president, told foreign correspondents at a press conference.

The two-time president started to serve a 12-year prison sentence for alleged corruption in April, which derailed his plan to run in October elections.

Lula has denied charges that he received a luxury beachfront apartment from Brazil's construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for lucrative contracts.