The former minister and director of Public Security of Brasilia, a key part of the alleged plot, has turned himself in at Brasilia airport, accused of “conspiracy” in the invasion of institutional headquarters
The federal police arrested Anderson Torres, head of public security of this Brasilia city, when the attack on the headquarters of the institution took place last Sunday, on suspicion of complicity in the failed coup against the government of Lula da Silva. The politician had already announced his return to the country from Florida (United States), where he was on the 8th in the company of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is now under investigation for the same events, as announced last night by the Supreme Court of Brazil . The two explained that they were on vacation in the US.
Torres was justice minister during the last phase of Bolsonaro’s term. Included in the investigations into the attack on Congress, the government palace and the Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia, the judge ordered his arrest midway through this week. He considers it an important piece to clarify the supposed anti-democratic framework that ended with the invasion of the headquarters by thousands of extremists associated with Bolsonarianism. The veteran politician then announced that he would turn himself in to law enforcement and he did so this morning when he arrived at Brasilia airport on a flight from Miami around 11:30 am (Spanish time). The federal police were waiting for him at the terminal, who arrested him and took him to the police station.
Anderson is expected to appear in court in the coming hours. In principle, an accusation of “dereliction of duty” weighed on him, since a few days before the uprising part of his team was fired, and he himself “went on vacation” to Florida. He only took up the post of Brasilia’s public security director since January 2, and his appointment was somewhat surprising given his background as justice minister of the previous executive and his overt Bolsonaro stance. The problem now is that he may face much more serious charges, such as ‘conspiracy’ with the attackers and perhaps even worse. Police searched his house last Thursday and found a draft decree aimed at overturning the election results that gave victory to Lula da Silva. He has already publicly expressed his belief that there were police and military accomplices to the attackers, who even led them to the headquarters of the legislature and judiciary.
In a maneuver very similar to that of Donald Trump after he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, the report bet on an appeal to Article 136 of the Constitution that, in its imaginary form, the continuity of the Bolsonaro Executive would until a special committee checks whether the election process contained irregularities or was legal. The far-right leader is said to have used the argument that if this process were not carried out, the country’s “social peace” would be seriously endangered. However, a large part of Brazilian magistrates and jurists confirm that the validity of this strategy is null and void and that its application would have been “unconstitutional” from the very first minute, although experts have no doubt that it would have contributed to increasing social conflicts and Bolsonaro’s claim that their leader was misled at the polls. The similarities with the Trump case are evident.
Before turning himself in, Anderson released several messages from Miami defending his innocence and claiming that the controversial report “leaked out of context.” According to his version, during the legislature, ministers receive proposals “of the most varied” and this would be another draft that had been thrown away, despite being deposited in a cupboard in his house. “I respect Brazilian democracy. I have a clear conscience regarding my role as minister,” he said.
The former minister is currently the most relevant charge that has been taken up in connection with the riots in Brasilia. But Justice is now following in the footsteps of Jair Bolsonaro himself. The Supreme Court has accepted the request of the Attorney General’s Office to include the former president in the investigation under the assumption that he is acting as the intellectual author of the coup attempt. Like Donald Trump, the far-right leader may have been betrayed by his proclivity for speaking out on social media. Prosecutors have presented as evidence a video from January 10 in which Bolsonaro again questions the October presidential election. The recording lasted only a few hours until the author deleted it.
This “ruling” would mean that the former president could position himself “in an attempt to attack the institutions”, according to the Court, which is still studying whether Bolsonaro should be summoned for questioning. The ultra leader continues in Florida, although he has announced that he will return to Brazil due to abdominal problems to continue to be treated by his usual doctors. His lawyer released a statement denying that Bolsonaro had any connection to the events in Brasilia and attributing the riots to the existence of “infiltrators.”
Source: La Verdad
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