The detention of Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for questioning and the search of his home by officers probing a corruption network amounts to an attack on the rule of law, his spokesman said Friday.

"The violence carried out today against the ex-president Lula and his family... is an assault against the rule of law that impacts all of Brazilian society," said Jose Chrispiniano, a spokesman for Lula and his institute.