BRASILIA 8 Apr (ANA) - Brazil's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is starting a 12-year sentence for corruption after surrendering to police.

 

It follows a two-day stand-off that saw him take refuge in a steelworkers' union building after missing a court deadline to hand himself in.

 

The 72-year-old walked out of the office in his hometown, near Sao Paulo, and was taken away by police cars.

 

Scores of supporters had earlier blocked his car from leaving the scene.

 

Lula maintains he is innocent, but said he would comply with the arrest warrant against him.

 

Footage on Brazil's GloboNews showed Lula and his bodyguards pushing through the crowd outside the union building, in the town of Sao Bernardo do Campo.

 

He was then flown by police helicopter to the southern city of Curitiba to begin his prison sentence.

 

Demonstrators set off fireworks as the helicopter landed, and riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The fire department said eight people were slightly injured, one of them by a rubber bullet.(ANA)

FA/ANA/8 April 2018-------