Photo: VCG

Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was released from prison in Curitiba, southern Brazil, on Friday afternoon.

The ex-president was serving his sentence in the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba. As he left the building, he was received by a crowd of supporters and fellow politicians from the Workers' Party (PT).

Lula's release followed a ruling of the Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), made on Thursday evening, which determined that defendants in Brazil will only be arrested after the last appeal of their processes.

In Brazil, a case can be appealed three times -- to the local court, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the STF.