EVARISTO SA / AFP
Anderson Torres (left) and Jair Bolsonaro are both in the crosshairs of the Brazilian judiciary for their responsibility for the looting of several places of power in Brasilia (photo taken in June 2022).
BRAZIL – After the shock and violence, the Brazilian judiciary intervened. Following last weekend’s violent events, Bolsonarist and former Attorney General Anderson Torres was arrested this Saturday, January 14. And that while former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro himself is being targeted directly for his role in looting national institutions in Brasilia.
Anderson Torres, who was the “secretary” in charge of Brasilia’s security at the time of the Jan. 8 violence after serving as justice minister under Bolsonaro, was arrested on Saturday upon arrival at Brasilia Airport as part of an investigation into the looting of local media reported. He is suspected of collusion with the rioters accused of instigating a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Anderson Torres, who maintains his innocence, was arrested when he flew back from the United States, specifically to appear in court.
An attempt to annul Lula’s election
He is also implicated after the discovery of a three-page document at his home. This provided for the federal government to take control of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which oversees the smooth running of the election “to ensure the maintenance and restoration of transparency and to authorize the regularity of the 2022 presidential election process”. A measure that many lawyers regard as unconstitutional. In practice, the intention would have been to annul Lula’s election.
Anderson Torres had said on Twitter Thursday night that this draft was “probably in a stack of documents that will be destroyed in due course,” and claimed his disclosure was taken out of context. The former minister had held the position of head of security for the federal district of Brasilia since January 2, but went on vacation shortly thereafter. He was so far from Brazil at the time of the riots.
… e vazado fora de contexto, ajudando a alimentar narrativas falaciosas contra mim. Fomos o primeiro ministério ae… https://t.co/jkFWQcxcW0
— Anderson Torres (@andersongtorres)
His arrest comes a day after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes announced that former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro was included, as requested by the attorney general’s office, in his investigation aimed at uncovering the possible instigators of this violence .
Bolsonaro in the eye of the judiciary
Jair Bolsonaro, who was narrowly defeated by left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October’s presidential election, “publicly incited the commission of a crime” by posting a video on social media “denouncing the regularity of the 2022 presidential election in question,” prosecutors explained in a press release. This video was released two days after thousands of Bolsonarists invaded the headquarters of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court, and then deleted, prosecutors said.
According to him, however, it could provide “evidence” that warrants “a global investigation into the acts committed by Jair Bolsonaro before and after January 8, 2023.”
The former president “never had the slightest connection or involvement with these movements,” his lawyers said in a statement to AFP, attributing the violence in Brasilia to “infiltrated” elements.
In any case, the consequence is particularly fatal for Jair Bolsonaro, who has been in the USA since the end of December. He was also nailed on Friday for lavish spending during his tenure, such as the €20,000 suddenly spent at a modest restaurant in northern Brazil, or the €10,000 at a bakery the day after his son’s wedding. Statements for the president’s credit card during his four-year term (2019-2022) have been released on an official website of the Lula administration, which has begun to unravel a 100-year secrecy his predecessor imposed on thousands of official documents. With uplifting revelations.
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