Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, once one of the most popular politicians on the planet, was given 24 hours to surrender to police Thursday and start a 12 year prison sentence for corruption.
The timing of the order from Judge Sergio Moro, head of Brazil's huge "Car Wash" anti-graft probe, came as a complete surprise, given that lawyers said earlier that the leftist former two-term president had at least until next week before going behind bars.
Lula, 72, easily leads polls in Brazil's October presidential election and his apparent downfall will throw the race completely open. Currently, hard-right former army officer Jair Bolsonaro, who openly praises Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship, is in second place.
Moro's order said that in view of Lula's stature as a former president, he would have "the opportunity to present himself voluntarily" to police in the city of Curitiba, where the "Car Wash" probe is based, by 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday.
A special cell "was prepared in advance... in which the ex-president will be separated from other prisoners, with no risk for his moral or physical integrity," Moro wrote.
There was no immediate reaction from Lula, who had been described earlier by supporters as facing his jailing calmly.
However, Senator Lindbergh Farias, from Lula's Workers' Party, issued a defiant call for supporters to congregate in front of Lula's house in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a suburb of Sao Paulo, on Friday.
The timing of the order from Judge Sergio Moro, head of Brazil's huge "Car Wash" anti-graft probe, came as a complete surprise, given that lawyers said earlier that the leftist former two-term president had at least until next week before going behind bars.
Lula, 72, easily leads polls in Brazil's October presidential election and his apparent downfall will throw the race completely open. Currently, hard-right former army officer Jair Bolsonaro, who openly praises Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship, is in second place.
Moro's order said that in view of Lula's stature as a former president, he would have "the opportunity to present himself voluntarily" to police in the city of Curitiba, where the "Car Wash" probe is based, by 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday.
A special cell "was prepared in advance... in which the ex-president will be separated from other prisoners, with no risk for his moral or physical integrity," Moro wrote.
There was no immediate reaction from Lula, who had been described earlier by supporters as facing his jailing calmly.
However, Senator Lindbergh Farias, from Lula's Workers' Party, issued a defiant call for supporters to congregate in front of Lula's house in Sao Bernardo do Campo, a suburb of Sao Paulo, on Friday.