Brazil's Ex-Justice Minister Arrested For Alleged Coup Attempt, Former Pres Bolsonaro To Be Investigated

Brazilian authorities are wasting no time carrying out recently-inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s vow to rein in security forces and collaborators accused of playing a role in the Jan. 8 attack on the Presidential Palace, Congress and Supreme Court. 

And they’re starting from the top.

What Happened: A Brazilian Supreme Court judge ruled Friday to investigate former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly encouraging last week's violent protests. Bolsonaro, who narrowly lost to Lula in October's elections, will be investigated for possible "instigation and intellectual authorship of the anti-democratic acts that resulted in vandalism and violence in Brasilia last Sunday," reported EuroNews. 

And Now This: Former Justice Minister Detained For Alleged Coup Attempt

Bolsonaro crony and former justice minister Anderson Torres was arrested early Saturday upon his return from Florida. In addition to accusations of allowing the violent protests to take place after he assumed responsibility for Brasilia's public security, from which he was fired after the riots, Torres is being accused of an alleged coup attempt. 

Current justice minister Flavio Dino said on Friday that a search of Torres’s home had turned up a draft decree that proposed emergency steps for the possible "correction" of the October election, including an “immediate restoration of the transparency and correction of the 2022 presidential electoral process." The document would have placed the electoral court under a state of emergency and overturned the election.

"We are dealing with a network of which we do not yet know the extent, of public security agents who unfortunately participated, voluntarily or by omission" in the riots, Dino said.

As investigations continue into who masterminded and financed the uprising, President Lula continues to publicly accuse members of the security forces of colluding with the rioters.

"I am convinced that the gate to the presidential palace was opened for people to enter because there was no broken door. It means that someone facilitated their entry here," said Lula per Globo. "We are going very calmly to investigate and see what really happened." 

Photo: Gov. photo on Poder360