Anderson Torres, Minister of Justice under former President Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested on Saturday upon his arrival in the Brazilian capital on a flight from the United States.
Torres, who was Security Secretary of the Federal District of Brasília during last Sunday’s seizure of the headquarters of the three branches of government by Bolsonaro supporters, was handed over to the Federal Police upon his arrival after being remanded in custody on Tuesday by the Federal Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court considers that the invasion could only have occurred «with the consent and even the effective participation of the competent authorities of public security and intelligence».
Torres arrived in Brasilia on a Gol Airlines flight from Miami, which landed at Brasilia International Airport at 7:17 am.
The former minister was on vacation with his family in the United States when the seizure of the three branches of government by demonstrators calling for a coup against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began. The governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha – also a Bolsonaro ally – dismissed Torres outright shortly after the assault began.
The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, has informed that the security arrangements in Brasília were altered hours before the demonstration in such a way that the number of police officers deployed in the Esplanade of the Three Powers was significantly reduced.
In addition, a draft presidential decree denouncing federal interference by the Supreme Electoral Court to open the door to alter the outcome of the 2022 elections that meant the defeat of Bolsonaro and the return of Lula to the presidency was found in his home, a document that is already known as the «draft of the coup d’état». Torres has responded that this text was «probably» in the pile of papers to be discarded.
Torres was Bolsonaro’s right arm during his presidency in the most controversial moments. In July 2021 he and Bolsonaro attacked the electoral system using data that later proved false and later criticized the electronic ballot box system.
The Minister of Agricultural Development, Paulo Teixeira, has valued the arrest of Torres, but pointed out that «the boss is still missing» in reference to Bolsonaro.
Other voices close to the Government, such as that of Deputy Guilherme Boulos, pointed out that «the place of the coup perpetrators is in jail», while the Government spokesman in the Senate, Randolfe Rodrigues, argued that «now there is no room for apologies, it is necessary to take responsibility». «Brazil is telling the world that it will not give space to the coup», he reiterated.
The Government spokesman in the Chamber of Deputies, Reginaldo Lopes, pointed out that Torres «has much to explain» about the assault on the three powers «and about the coup draft found in his house». «Mainly he will have to say at whose command he did all that,» he said. The future spokesman of Lula’s Workers’ Party in the Chamber, Zeca Direcu, has finished off his message with a «they will not pass».
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro’s allies remain mostly silent, while a lawyer of the former president has stressed that he «has always repudiated illegal and criminal acts». «President Jair Bolsonaro vehemently repudiates the acts of vandalism and damage to public property committed by the infiltrators in the demonstration. He has never had any relation or participation in these spontaneous social movements carried out by the population», he added.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
