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Brazilian Supreme Court Greenlights Probe Into Bolsonaro Over Nation's Jan 8 Capital Riot

© Sputnik / Ramil SitdikovBrazil's then-President Jair Bolsonaro waits before a family photo at the 11th BRICS leaders summit, in Brazilia, Brazil.
Brazil's then-President Jair Bolsonaro waits before a family photo at the 11th BRICS leaders summit, in Brazilia, Brazil. - Sputnik International, 1920, 14.01.2023
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On January 8, supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the National Congress building in Brasilia as well as the Supreme Federal Court and the Planalto Presidential Palace in an effort to keep Bolsonaro in power. The riot took place just a week after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration.
Brazil’s Supreme Court agreed on Friday to include former President Jair Bolsonaro in an investigation into the incitement of the January 8 riot that saw demonstrators temporarily break into various government buildings in the nation's capital.
The Attorney General’s Office of Brazil requested the Supreme Court investigate the former president in an investigation that looks at the “instigation and intellectual authorship of anti-democratic acts that resulted in episodes of vandalism and violence in Brasilia last Sunday,” according to a statement from the AG’s office on Friday.
The probe into Bolsonaro is one of seven by the court that is related to the attack.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes granted the request from the AG’s office, which cited evidence of a video that Bolsonaro posted to Facebook just two days after the riot in Brasilia. In the video, an attorney in Mato Grosso allegedly called into question the legitimacy of the presidential election that Bolsonaro lost to now-President Lula da Silva in October.
The video reportedly claimed Silva was not voted into office via a democratic election, but was instead chosen by the Supreme Court and Brazil’s electoral offices.
© AFP 2023 / SERGIO LIMARiots in Brazil
Riots in Brazil - Sputnik International, 1920, 14.01.2023
Riots in Brazil
The former president’s Facebook video was apparently deleted the morning after it had been posted. Prosecutors have argued that while the video was posted after the riot already took place, it was sufficient evidence to investigate his role in the riots before they unfolded, adding that the video has “the power to incite new acts of civil insurgency.” Prosecutors further noted the video could indict Bolsonaro of a “crime on incitement” which is punishable by three to six months in jail, or a fine.
In his decision, de Moraes also called for a hearing to investigate political communication on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
One of the officials being investigated includes Bolsonaro's former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who was ordered to be arrested by de Moraes for his “neglect and collusion,” including firing subordinates and fleeing to the US before the riot. De Moraes indicated in his decision that this opened the doors for a riot.
Torres has denied any wrongdoing, however, he has yet to comply with the investigation, which discovered a draft decree in his home that outlined seizing control of Brazil’s electoral authority and possibly overturning the election.
Frederick Wassef, a lawyer representing Bolsonaro, said his client has “never had any relation or participation” in the January 8 riots in Brasilia.
“President Jair Bolsonaro always repudiated all the illegal and criminal acts, and always spoke publicly against illicit conducts, just as he was always a defender of the Constitution and democracy,” Wassef said in a statement. “Throughout his government, he always acted according to the four lines of the Constitution. President Jair Bolsonaro fiercely repudiates the vandalism and depredation acts against public patrimony committed by infiltrators in the manifestations.”
Bolsonaro did, however, fail to show a supporting attitude towards his opponent in the run-up to the October 30 election. The former president refused to concede the election to his leftist rival two days after he had lost by a thin margin, though he did authorize the government’s transition. He then thanked his supporters at the speech and said he supported their protests as long as they did not become violent. He also refused to attend the ceremony in which Lula was to be sworn in as president on January 1.
Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate during a blockade on Castelo Branco highway, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 1, 2022. (Photo by CAIO GUATELLI / AFP) - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2023
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Brazil's Police Say Over 1,800 Participants of Anti-Government Protests Detained
Brazil’s swearing-in ceremony is highly symbolic as the outgoing president typically hands their green-and-yellow presidential sash to their successor. Like former US President Donald Trump, whose own supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6,2021, Bolsonaro did not attend his successor’s swearing-in ceremony.
In fact, rather than attending the ceremony, Bolsonaro fled to a resort in Florida, where he was greeted by his supporters. He has remained in the Orlando suburb despite some lawmakers urging US President Joe Biden to cancel his visa.
Thus far, over 1,000 people have been arrested in connection to the riot at Brazil’s Congress.
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