Brazil’s ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in custody

By James Blears

Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva decided to go to familiar territory, at the Metal Workers Union in his home town of Sao Bernado de Campo and hold out for two days, before exiting the building, wading through a crowd of supporters, to reach Brazilian Federal Police, who took him into custody. 

Earlier in the day, alongside his impeached successor Dilma Rousseff, Lula  delivered an almost hour long impassioned speech. He said: "I`m not above the law. If I didn`t believe in it I wouldn`t have started a political party, but a revolution.  I`m not afraid, I`m not running and I`ll prove my innocence."

He accuses his enemies of preventing him from competing in October`s Presidential Election, but vows he`ll be back.

Lula has been convicted of money laundering and accepting a luxury seaside apartment from engineering firm Odebrecht, now known as OAS.  He denies all of the charges

President of Brazil from 2003-2011, Lula`s social programs are credited in lifting more than 20 million Brazilians out of dire poverty and changing a nation. The biggest name to be felled by the so called "Carwash Scandal," Lula is determined to go down politically fighting and re-arise. A survivor of throat cancer, Lula aged 72, confirms he`s now preparing for the biggest political battle of his life, in challenging a 19 year ban on running for office and getting out of jail.