Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Gilmar Mendes has given 48 hours to pro-Bolsonaro congresswoman Carla Zambelli to hand over the pistol she used to threaten a group of supporters of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the eve of the second round of elections on October 30.
If the Liberal Party (PL) deputy does not hand over the pistol and ammunition by the deadline, the Supreme Court judge has ordered the Federal Police to arrest her in order to comply with his decision, which also includes the temporary withdrawal of her weapons permit.
The judge’s ruling is in response to a request from the Attorney General’s Office, which alleged «public order» reasons at a time when Lula da Silva is just over a week away from taking office as President of Brazil.
«The current political tension, the imminent peaceful transition of power and the improper possession of a firearm for the alleged exercise of the right to the defense of honor reveal that the precautionary suspension of possession and confiscation of the weapon are sufficient measures to stop the reiteration of the crime under investigation and to safeguard public order,» alleged the deputy attorney general, Lindora Araújo.
In this sense, Araújo pointed out that Zambelli could have incurred in another crime of illegal possession of weapons since he did not have authorization to carry it while he was in the street or to enter an establishment carrying it, as was seen in the images that were widely disseminated in the media.
For her part, the deputy of the PL has denied any type of irregularity and has assured that the authorities «are wrong» in saying that the possession of that weapon was illegal and has stated that even if the request to hand it over was legitimate, since she was on an «official mission» she is not obliged to respond to these demands.
On the eve of the second round of the October 30 elections, Zambelli responded to a group of Lula da Silva supporters who chanted the name of the president-elect by chasing one of them, gun in hand. The deputy followed him to a nearby bar, where she demanded that he lie down on the floor.
Videos released on social networks show how the deputy faces and tries to assault a man after he said «Tomorrow, Lula.» The man walks away and she chases him, but the deputy falls on the sidewalk, which is then used by her to claim that she had been assaulted.
Zambelli is authorized to carry a gun as a federal deputy, however, the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE) prohibited civilians and police officers who were not on duty the day before the elections to carry firearms around polling stations.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
