RIO DE JANEIRO — Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva surrendered to police Saturday, Globo TV reported, a day after the popular politician missed a deadline set by a judge.
Lula left the metalworkers’ union building in Sao Paulo in accordance with an arrest warrant.
Followers of the former president had blocked the exit of the building, where Lula had been staying.
Several held and knocked down a fence to prevent the former president’s car from leaving. Lula finally left more than two hours later in police cars, according to Globo.
Lula, 72, was to be flown to Curitiba in southern Brazil to start serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.
Judge Sergio Moro had ordered Lula to report to a police station in Curitiba by 5 p.m. Friday, but he remained at the union headquarters.
Lula’s lawyers had lodged several requests to avoid jail until exhausting all appeals against his corruption conviction,
The case has divided the country. Lula’s supporters regard the judicial proceedings as a plot to keep him out of the Oct. presidential election, which he had been expected to easily win, while opponents say jailing him would boost Brazil’s fight against impunity.
Lula was convicted in July of corruption and money laundering in connection with the renovation of a beachside penthouse he was planning to buy. The renovation was paid for by a company seeking contracts with the state oil giant Petrobras.
Moro sentenced Lula to 9 1/2 years in prison, and an appeals court raised the jail term to 12 years and one month.
The case was linked to the Lava Jato corruption scandal surrounding Petrobras, which has led to the jailing of dozens of entrepreneurs and politicians.
Lula oversaw strong economic growth and falling inequality during his 2003-2011 presidency. His social policies earned him high popularity ratings, even as concern grew about corruption in his government.
Lula continued campaigning for the October elections in recent months despite the threat of jail, and his party said Thursday that he was still its candidate.
However, Brazil’s electoral court is widely expected to bar Lula from running.
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