Brazil arrests four suspected of attempted coup in Bolsonaro riots

Brasilia: Brazilian police arrested at least four people on Thursday (29 December) and conducted a nationwide raid in an investigation into an attempted coup during a riot by supporters of defeated far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. said.

Brazilian authorities, led by the Supreme Court, have refused to recognize the electoral victory of left-wing president-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, calling for a military coup against a small but dedicated minority of Bolsonaro supporters. cracking down on minorities.

Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede defeat, is pushing unsubstantiated claims that Brazil’s electoral system lacks credibility, which some of his hardcore supporters believe.

Thursday’s operation comes just days before Lula’s inauguration on Sunday and a week after Brasilia’s police announced they had thwarted a bombing plot masterminded by an alleged Bolsonaro supporter. It was done before long.

The attacks stemmed from the December 12 riots in which Lula’s victory was confirmed, when election opponents encamped outside the army headquarters in Brasilia attacked the federal police headquarters and led Bolsonaro’s indigenous people. They set fire to cars and buses after they were arrested.

Federal police said Thursday they are serving 32 search and arrest warrants in eight states under a Supreme Court order.

The alleged crimes were “damage, arson, criminal coalition, violent abolition of the rule of law, and coup d’etat, and the maximum penalty for these combined offenses is equivalent to 34 years’ imprisonment,” they said. said in a statement.

Cleo Masotti, head of the federal police’s organized crime unit, said four people had been arrested by morning.

At a press conference, Masotti said two arrest warrants had been issued in northwestern Rondonia, one in Rio de Janeiro and one in Brasilia.

Lula urged people not to worry about the post-election “noise” in announcing the new ministers.

“People who lose elections should keep quiet, and winners have the right to throw large and popular parties,” he said.

Incoming Justice Minister Flavio Dino welcomed the operation, saying it was aimed at preserving the rule of law by “protecting life and property.”

“Arson, attacks on federal police headquarters, looting and bombing cannot be justified for political reasons. Freedom of expression does not apply to terrorism,” Dino wrote on Twitter.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that riots in Brasilia followed days of heightened tensions in the camp of election opponents after the arrest of Bolsonalista Milton Baldin on December 6.

Less than two weeks after the riots, police found a bomb in the capital. George Washington Sousa, a Bolsonaro supporter with ties to the military camp, confessed to building a device to provoke the military into intervening.

Mazzotti said almost all those targeted in Thursday’s raids visited pro-Bolsonaro camps.

Following growing concerns about security risks surrounding Lula’s January 1 inauguration in the capital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered registered gun owners to carry firearms in federal districts until he takes office. prohibited to do.