Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former far-right president, at center of investigation for “coup attempt”

Jair Bolsonaro is now banned from leaving Brazil. This, after being targeted, was part of an investigation by a police operation on Thursday 8 February “attempted coup”, Resulting in the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasilia.

“Regarding the decisions taken today”The former president will “Surrender your passport to the authorities”was written on X One of his lawyers, Fabio Wagengarten. The person concerned condemned “Incessant Persecution”.

The large-scale operation, which also targets former ministers, generals and close associates of Mr. Bolsonaro, tightens the judicial grip on the former far-right leader (2019-2022), who has been beset by affairs since he left power.

Thirty-three search and four arrest warrants

Federal police announced in a press release that they had executed thirty-three search warrants and four arrest warrants as part of the investigation. “A criminal organization that participated in a coup attempt (…) to gain political advantage while preserving the incumbent president”. The president in question is Mr. Bolsonaro, who was defeated in a re-election bid against Lula in October 2022.

On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s inauguration, thousands of Bolsonistas stormed places of power in Brasilia, demanding military intervention to remove the leftist president from power.

According to the Brazilian press, three people were arrested on Thursday: Filipe Martins, a former foreign policy adviser to Mr. Bolsonaro, as well as two soldiers. In addition, four generals were targeted by the search, including two former defense ministers in the Bolsonaro government.

One of them, Walter Braga Netto, was then a vice-presidential candidate in the 2022 election. Another, Paulo Sergio Nogueira, was commander-in-chief of the Brazilian army before becoming a minister. Another prominent figure targeted by the operation: the influential General Augusto Helleno, a former institutional security cabinet minister and considered one of Mr. Bolsonaro’s gray eminences.

“It has been more than a year since I have ruled and I have suffered constant oppression”Mr. Bolsonaro responded to the daily’s reporter on Thursday Folha d s. Paulo. “Forget me, there is someone else to rule the country”he added.

His successor replied distantly: “The fact is that there was an attempted coup (…) Which wouldn’t have happened without Bolsonaro”The president of Brazil announced Thursday on local radio Itatiaia. “He was not ready to give up power, he did not have the courage to pass the sash of the presidency to me, he continued to cry for the United States because he had to participate in the construction of this attempted coup d’état »Lula insisted, while calling for respect “Presumption of Innocence”.

“Fake News”

Federal police speak of an attempt “To legitimize military intervention, to spread suspicions of fraud in the 2022 presidential election even before the polls take place”. The plan will initially include this “Spreading Misinformation About Vulnerabilities of Electronic Voting System”. Then the police mentioned “The practice of acts of overthrowing the democratic rule of law through military-backed coups”.

Investigators specifically cited plans to arrest the Bolsonaro clan’s bête noir, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, for ordering the opening of numerous investigations against the former president.

Judge Moraes also heads the Superior Electoral Court, which in June sentenced the former president to eight years of disqualification for disseminating false information about the electronic voting system.