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05 April 2018The Federal Supreme Court (Tsf) of Brazil today rejected the request for habeas corpus presented by former president Lula da Silva, who can therefore now be jailed to serve the 12-year sentence that was imposed on him for corruption and money laundering .

As expected by the observers, the decision was taken with a narrow majority: 6 votes to 5.



Formally it was the opinion of the President of the Court, Carmen Lucia - the last to vote - that marked the defeat of Lula, but it was the Negative vote of another magistrate - Rosa Weber - who extinguished the enthusiasm of the supporters of the former president during the long hearing, which lasted more than ten hours. 



The judge: Lula in prison on Friday

Judge Sergio Moro ordered Lula da Silva to appear at the federal police on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in Italy) to be arrested.

The arrest warrant of the former Brazilian president was issued after the Porto Alegre court authorized the magistrate to proceed with the execution of the sentence.



Thousands of people in the square

The river session of the Supreme Court was accompanied by demonstrations and protests: thousands of people demonstrated for and against the former president throughout Brazil.

Brazilians took to the streets in 16 of the country's 27 states.

In the capital Brasilia a security device has been set up with 4,000 law enforcement officers and the area around the Supreme Court is off limits.

This did not prevent Lula's sympathizers and opponents from gathering in large numbers along the esplanade of the ministries, in the center of the city, where all the institutional buildings are located, including the Presidency and the Supreme Court.

Demonstrations were also held in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Fortaleza, Manaus, Salvador de Bahia, among other things.