- According to sources, Brazilian Federal Police launched an operation today against some of Bolsonaro's top aides
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro was forced to surrender his passport as a police investigation into an attempted coup was launched following his election defeat.
Brazilian federal police today launched an operation against some of Bolsonaro's top aides as part of an investigation into the coup attempt, sources involved in the operation told Portal.
In a statement, federal police did not name names about the operation's targets, but said they were accused of involvement in “a criminal organization involved in an attempted coup” aimed at “retaining the then President of the Republic from power to keep”. .
The targets of the search warrants include Gen. Walter Braga Netto, a former minister and former vice presidential candidate in Bolsonaro's campaign, former Defense Minister Paulo Nogueira Batista and former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, sources said.
Police visited Bolsonaro's beach house and asked the former president to hand over his passport, said three sources who requested anonymity to discuss an active operation.
Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian federal police launched an operation today against some of Bolsonaro's top aides, sources involved in the operation said
A spokesman for the Bolsonaro family, Fabio Wajngarten, said on social media that the ex-president would comply and hand over his passport.
According to the sources, Bolsonaro's former international affairs adviser Felipe Martins is one of four people who have arrest warrants.
Portal attempted to contact the victims of the police operation and their lawyers but did not receive an immediate response.
Police said in their statement that the targets of Thursday's operation formed a group in 2022 that spread claims of voter fraud “even before the election took place” in order to “legitimize military intervention.”
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 election, said the coup attempt must be investigated to prevent the same thing from happening again.
“Without Bolsonaro there would have been no coup attempt,” Lula said in a radio interview.
A week after Lula took office in January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters who had gathered for days outside the army headquarters broke into government buildings in Brasilia, vandalized them and demanded a military takeover.