The former president vows to prove his innocence of corruption after ending a two-day standoff with the authorities

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has handed himself in to police after spending two nights at the metalworkers’ union headquarters in São Paulo in defiance of an arrest warrant.

“I’m going to prove my innocence,” Lula told a large crowd of adoring supporters on Saturday at the building where he began his political career. “Do what you want, the powerful can kill one, two or 100 roses. But they’ll never manage to stop the arrival of spring.”

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Afterwards, he was carried on the shoulders of supporters shouting “Free Lula!” before being flown to the southern city of Curitiba where he will begin serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.

Military police in Curitiba later dispersed Lula supporters with rubber bullets and teargas when he arrived at a police station in the city.

Although the 72-year-old will appeal against the conviction and is unlikely to serve the whole sentence, his imprisonment has for now ended his hopes of regaining the presidency in October’s elections. A final decision on his eligibility will be made by the electoral court.

Thousands of supporters, many from unions and leftwing social movements, had for two days formed a human shield around the union building in the São Bernardo do Campo district of the city to prevent Lula from handing himself in.

“He managed to transform the moment of his imprisonment into a demonstration of his political force and popular support, not humiliation,” said Maurício Santoro, a political scientist and professor of international relations at Rio de Janeiro’s State University.

Despite the show of strength, Lula’s supporters say his arrest is a blow to the political project for a more socially just and inclusive Brazil that the former president pioneered with his Workers’ party government.

“Brazil’s powerful don’t want a popular government that rules for the people,” said Maria Osmarina, 50, a teacher who was present during Lula’s speech.

One of the issues inflaming the debate is that Lula’s case was judged much more quickly than all other cases in the huge Car Wash corruption scandal, as well as the fact that other politicians from rival parties accused of more serious crimes remain free.

Michel Temer, who took over as president from Lula’s successor Dilma Rousseff in a controversial impeachment, survived two trials for corruption-related charges last year mainly because he was shielded by allies in congress.

It is the second time Lula has been jailed; the first was during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1980 for organising large strikes that were important to weakening the regime’s grip on power.

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This time, prosecutors say he received a $2.2m real (£470,000) beachfront apartment in the multimillion-dollar Car Wash scheme to help construction company OAS win contracts with state oil firm Petrobras.

His defence team has taken the case to the United Nations human rights commission. They say the prosecution was plagued by unethical methods and lack of material proof.

With Lula out of the elections, far-right former army captain and Brazil’s military dictatorship enthusiast Jair Bolsonaro leads, though polls suggest that he would lose to more moderate left- and rightwing candidates in the runoff.