Supporters prevent Brazil’s Lula from surrendering

São Bernardo do Campo (Brazil) (AFP) – A crowd of supporters prevented Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from leaving to surrender to police and begin his prison sentence for corruption Saturday.

In chaotic scenes caught on live television, scores of leftist activists swarmed around his car and blocked the gate, forcing the 72-year-old two-term president to get back out of the car. He had been on his way to hand himself in to police.