Former Brazil minister arrested in connection with Jan 8 riots
Jan 15, 2023
Brasilia [Brazil], January 15 : Brazil's former minister for Justice, Anderson Torres, was arrested on Saturday after he returned from the United States (US), The NHK World reported.
Torres is suspected of intentionally failing to stop the capital attack even when he had the knowledge, the report said, adding that he left the country before the riots broke out.
The report further states that Torres, a close ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro, had been defeated by the current President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in October last year. He had been in charge of Brasilia's public security when the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace were attacked during the riots of January 8.
More than 1300 Bolsonaro supporters have been arrested for orchestrating the protest in Brasilia. The NHK World report quoted local police sources as saying that they found a draft decree in Torres' home overturning the results of October's presidential election.
The prosecutors are expected to question Torres in connection to Bolsonaro's involvement in the riots, the NHK World reported, adding that he tweeted that he had always acted ethically and legally and believed that truth shall prevail.
Earlier, Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court approved an investigation to determine whether Bolsonaro sparked the unrest in the nation's capital on January 8.
The grant of permission for the probe was given on the request from the prosecutor general's office, which referenced a video Bolsonaro uploaded on Facebook two days after the disturbance.
In the video, Bolsonaro claimed Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wasn't voted into office, but was chosen by the Supreme Court and Brazil's electoral authority, and now his supporters chant the same as they do not support Lula's narrow victory.
Currently, Brazilian authorities are investigating who gave Bolsonaro's 'extremist' followers permission to invade the Supreme Court, Congress, and the presidential residence in an effort to void the results of the election in October.
During the riots, supporters of the former Brazil president broke into the country's Congressional building, Supreme Court and the Presidential palace. The breaches came about a week after the inauguration of President da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in a run-off on October 30.
