After the violent invasion of the presidential palace in Brasilia, investigations are underway against former president Jair Bolsonaro himself. Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday granted a request by the Public Ministry to place the far-right politician on a list of suspects to be investigated in connection with the January 8 violence. Bolsonaro is currently in the United States.
The Attorney General’s Office accuses the former president of “instigating and intellectual authorship” of the riots. Their lawyers have firmly rejected this.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes said that he would comply with the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and put the former president on the list of investigated. The Attorney General’s Office had previously stated that, by releasing a video “putting in doubt the legality of the 2022 presidential election”, Bolsonaro “publicly incited the commission of a crime”.
The video was released two days after Bolsonaro supporters violently invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Federal Supreme Court and was subsequently deleted. The attorney general’s office argued that while the video was made after the riots, it could serve as “conclusive evidence” ensuring “a full investigation into the defendant’s actions before and after January 8, 2023”.
In a statement to the AFP news agency, Bolsonaro’s lawyers said he “never had the slightest connection” with those responsible for the assault on state institutions. Lawyers blamed “undercover” actors for the January 8 violence.
Government district in Brasilia invaded
Last Sunday, hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters in the capital invaded the Congress building, the presidential palace and the headquarters of the Federal Supreme Court, causing hours of damage to the place. His anger was expressed by the electoral victory of left-wing politician Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in the second round and has been in office since the beginning of the year.
Protesters do not recognize Lula’s electoral victory. Bolsonaro himself did not do this either and left for the US before the transfer of office. On Thursday, it was reported that a document was found at the home of former Attorney General Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro’s confidant, which contained plans to “correct” the result of the elections, which, however, did not materialize.
Torres is also in the United States. He maintained his innocence and announced without giving a date that he will return to Brazil to face the authorities. The new Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino, gave Torres until Monday. If his predecessor does not appear by then, “we will begin the extradition process next week.”
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro’s spending on the president’s official credit card, released by the Lula government, also caused outrage. According to this, for example, around 217 thousand euros were paid during Bolsonaro’s official Christmas holidays in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A modest restaurant in Boa Vista, in the state of Roraima, in the north of the Amazon, where the most expensive dish costs nine euros, the equivalent of around €20,000 was debited in one go.
Bolsonaro boasted several times during his tenure that, unlike his predecessors, “he hadn’t spent a dime” on the president’s credit card.
Ex-Minister of Justice arrested
Meanwhile, the capital’s former head of security and former minister of justice has been arrested. Anderson Torres, who was fired as head of security for the Federal District of Brasilia after last Sunday’s riots, was arrested on Saturday at the airport after arriving from the US state of Florida, national police said. The Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant against him on suspicion of omissions and toleration of the riots. (afp/dpa)