The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and 22 former collaborators went to the Federal Police this Thursday to testify about alleged coup plans prior to the inauguration of the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The investigation is focused on the riot of January 8, 2023, when, a week after Lula’s inauguration, thousands of far-right activists violently and simultaneously assaulted the headquarters of the three branches of government.
During the investigations, the Federal Police have found serious indications of conspiracies prior to that date.
The main one is the draft of a decree that would be issued before January 1, 2023, through which the “state of siege” would be imposed and the Supreme Court and electoral justice, all in order to keep Bolsonaro in power.
That suspicion led to a large police operation on February 8, when the homes of some twenty people involved were searched and four members of the Bolsonaro hard core were arrested.
In the case of Bolsonaro, who appeared to testify this Thursday in Brasiliafor now appears as being investigated in the process, but Justice forced him to hand over his passport and prohibited him from leaving the country.
In addition to Bolsonaro, four former ministers were summoned to testify this Thursday, three of them reserve generals: Walter Braga Netto, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira y Augustus Helenus.
The admiral also appeared to testify. Almir Garnierformer Navy commander, other high-ranking military personnel and the former deputy Valdemar Costa Netopresident of Liberal Partyled by the former far-right president.
Bolsonaro, whose defense has anticipated that he intends to remain silent during the statement, has stated that he is a “victim of persecution” and has denied all suspicions against him.
Furthermore, he has called an event in the city of São Paulo for next Sunday, in which he intends to gather a crowd and “defend himself” from this “persecution” of Justice, which has him as a suspect in another dozen processes, for various irregularities. EFE (I)
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