The director general of Brazil’s Highway Police, Silvinei Vasques, was removed from office on Tuesday after being charged with an administrative offense for calling for a vote for Jair Bolsonaro in the last elections.
Vasques has not only been in the spotlight for asking for the vote for Bolsonaro, something that officials are forbidden to do, but also because he was in charge of managing the operations to unblock roads and highways that were occupied by supporters of the former Brazilian president after learning of his defeat.
In November, the Federal Justice of Rio de Janeiro accepted the claim of the Prosecutor’s Office and accused Vasques of having contributed to the «confrontation» between voters during the displacements on the day of the second round of the elections, on October 30, as well as afterwards when the results were announced.
Since the beginning of the elections, Vasques has been using his social networks to explicitly call for votes for Bolsonaro, even going so far as to use symbols and images of the police institution he heads for that purpose.
In addition to this administrative offense, Vasques is being investigated by the Federal Police for his management during the crisis of the blockades that Bolsonaro’s supporters, dissatisfied with the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, imposed on some of the main roads and highways in the country.
In case he is found guilty, he could face charges of prevarication and even participation by omission in crimes against the democratic state, according to the newspaper ‘O Globo’.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
