Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was greeted by overjoyed supporters as he was released from prison, where he was serving a 12-year corruption sentence, after a supreme court ruling.

Lula was greeted on Friday by supporters wearing T-shirts emblazoned with his face and waving red flags outside the federal police HQ in the city of Curitiba, where he had been imprisoned for 580 days.

• Brazil’s former president Lula walks free from prison after supreme court ruling

• Workers’ party leader had been held for 580 days for corruption
• Court rules incarceration unlawful until appeals exhausted

Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been released from prison where he was serving a 12-year corruption sentence, after a supreme court ruling that delighted his supporters and infuriated followers of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.

He was greeted by hundreds of supporters wearing red vests emblazoned with his face outside the federal police headquarters in the city of Curitiba, where he has been imprisoned for 580 days.

Leaked cellphone chats published by the Intercept suggest Sérgio Moro, now justice minister, steered case against ex-president

Brazil has been rocked by allegations that a prominent judge repeatedly collaborated with prosecutors during high-profile corruption investigations – including the controversial case that imprisoned former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

According to the Intercept, Sérgio Moro gave prosecutors strategic advice, criticism and tips during the sprawling corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash that jailed hundreds of executives, politicians and middlemen.