SAO PAULO - Brazil's jailed ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived Saturday in Sao Paulo under police escort after receiving permission to attend the funeral of a grandson who died aged seven.
The service was being held at the Sao Bernardo do Campo cemetery in a Sao Paulo suburb, starting at noon . Arthur's father Sandro is one of Lula's five sons. Gleisi Hoffmann, the leader of the Workers' Party, visited Lula in prison after he learned of Arthur's death and said the aging leftist was "downcast."While news of Arthur's death provoked sympathetic messages in social media -- including from a former political foe of Lula's, the head of the National Assembly Rodrigo Maia -- a son of President Jair Bolsonaro sparked a new controversy by criticizing Lula's release.
He called the temporary release "absurd," adding, "It only allows a high-profile thug to pass himself off as a victim."