Brazil Riot: As part of a wider crackdown to hold responsible parties to account, a judge in Brazil’s Supreme Court on January 8 authorized the opening of an investigation against former President Jair Bolsonaro who instigated a riot in the country’s capital.
According to reports, Justice Alexandre de Moraes granted the prosecutor general’s office’s request, citing a video Bolsonaro posted on Facebook two days after the riots. The video claimed that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not elected President of Brazil, but was chosen by the country’s electoral authority and top court.
Although Bolsonaro later removed the video, prosecutors in a recently formed group to combat anti-democracy activities claimed its content was sufficient to support an investigation into his actions. Notably, Bolsonaro has chosen to refrain from commenting on the election since his October 30 defeat.
Bolsonaro continued to question the credibility of the electronic voting system
However, he continually promoted doubts about the reliability of the electronic voting system before the election, later filed a request to erase millions of votes cast using the machines, and never accepted.
According to reports, Brazilian authorities are investigating who helped hardline supporters of Bolsonaro storm the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace in an attempt to overturn the results of October’s election.
Targets include those who invited rioters to the capital or paid for their transport, and local security personnel who may have stood aside to let the mayhem unfold.
Much of the attention thus far has focused on Bolsonaro’s former justice minister, Anderson Torres, who became security chief of the Federal District on January 2, and was in the US on the day of the riots.
The security chief of the Federal District ordered the arrest of Torres.
De Moraes this week ordered Torres’ arrest and launched an investigation into his actions, which he described as “neglect and complicity”.
In his ruling, which was made public on Friday, de Moraes said Torres fired subordinates and left the country before the riots, a sign he was deliberately laying the groundwork for unrest.
The entrance to the Senate president’s office was destroyed in Brasilia, a day after supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said on Friday that the court has also issued an arrest warrant for the former security chief, and that he must return within three days or Brazil will request his extradition.
“If his presence is not confirmed by next week, of course, we will use the mechanisms of international legal cooperation. We will start the procedures for his extradition next week,” Dino said according to the Associated Press (AP). ”
Read also: Brazil: ‘No Amnesty!’, protesters demand jail for rioters
Significantly, people in the country have taken to the streets demanding jail for the rioters. “No apologies! No apologies! No apologies!” chants echoed off the walls of a packed hall at the Law College of the University of São Paulo on January 9.
(with inputs from AP)