Brazil’s ex-president Lula da Silva defies police

Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil: Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil defied a Friday deadline to report to prison to begin serving a 12-year corruption sentence, daring authorities to haul him away from a union headquarters thronged by his supporters.

As the 5pm deadline neared, da Silva's supporters counted down the last five seconds. Then they began chanting: "There is no surrender!"

Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves to supporters in front of the metal workers union headquarters in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.Credit: AP

Da Silva's decision set the stage for a confrontation between the most loyal defenders of a polarising, yet enormously popular politician, and law enforcement officials who regard his imprisonment as a defining moment in their yearslong effort to stamp out corruption in Brazil.

Brazilians were riveted by the drama on Friday amid uncertainty about when and how da Silva, once a lion of Latin America's left, would be taken into custody.

Some Brazilians relished the imminent arrest of da Silva, seeing it as a measure of justice in a country where powerful politicians have stolen with impunity for years. But others seethed, saying that the 72-year-old former president, who is the front-runner in the presidential election set to take place in October, was about to become a political prisoner.

Supporters of Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gather in front of the metal workers union headquarters in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.Credit: AP

Da Silva spent the day holed up at the metalworkers union headquarters in São Bernardo do Campo, a municipality just outside of São Paulo, surrounded by supporters.

"He is staying positive, he is talking and listening," said Eduardo Suplicy, a founder of da Silva's Workers' Party who visited with him during the afternoon. "There has been such an outpouring of solidarity from the people."

Supporters of Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gather outside the metal workers union headquarters where da Silva is hunkered down, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.Credit: AP

Da Silva on Thursday afternoon was ordered to surrender to federal police officials in the southern city of Curitiba, where his trial was held, no later than 5pm  on Friday. He ruled out travelling there, a spokesman, José Chrispiniano, said, in part because his assets had been frozen as part of the criminal investigation, leaving him unable to afford the trip.

Supporters of Brazilian former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hold hands during a protest against the warrant for his arrest, outside the metal workers headquarters in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.Credit: AP

Da Silva was convicted last July of corruption and money laundering after a federal judge, Sérgio Moro, determined that he had accepted a seaside apartment as a bribe for contracts issued to the construction company OAS.

New York Times