The 72-year-old, former two-term president arrived by police helicopter on the roof of federal police headquarters in Curitiba, the southern city where Brazil’s historic anti-graft “Car Wash” investigation is based.
As the helicopter landed, demonstrators outside let off volleys of fireworks, while riot police fired tear gas, filling the air with explosions and smoke. Eight people were lightly injured, including one hit by a rubber bullet, the fire department said.
It was a fittingly chaotic end to four days of intense tension as Brazil wondered whether the Workers’ Party founder would finally be put behind bars.He was found guilty last year of taking a luxury apartment as a bribe from a construction company and is the “Car Wash” probe’s biggest scalp — though Lula says the conviction was rigged.