Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will not turn himself in to serve a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, a party source with knowledge of his thinking said on Friday, adding he will wait until a higher court rules on a last-minute appeal.
Lula’s lawyers urged the appeals court to suspend the prison order, arguing they had not been given time to exhaust procedural appeals and painting the case as an effort to remove him from the presidential race he is currently leading.
It was not clear if the higher court would intervene before a 5 p.m. (2000 GMT) deadline for the former president to start serving time for bribery and money laundering.
Lula spent his last hours ahead of that deadline huddling with aides and allies at the headquarters of the steelworkers union in metropolitan Sao Paulo where he got his start in Brazilian politics.
“We are gathered here with our supporters in the birthplace of the Workers Party … so we can combat this injustice,” said party leader Gleisi Hoffman. “Lula is innocent!”
Hundreds of die-hard supporters in red shirts thronged outside the union offices late into the night on Thursday, cheering spirited defenses of Lula, who sought refuge inside. Many remained camped outside the building early on Friday.
The same union was the launchpad for Lula’s political career nearly four decades ago, when he led nationwide strikes that helped to end Brazil’s 1964-85 military government.
Lula’s everyman style and unvarnished speeches electrified masses long governed by the elite and eventually won him two terms as president, from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality amid a commodities boom.
He left office with sky-high approval of 83 percent and was called “the most popular politician on Earth” by former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Lula’s downfall has been as stunning as the unprecedented corruption probes that have convulsed Brazil for the last four years, jailing dozens of politicians and business leaders long considered above the law.
