BRASILIA, Jan 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A former minister in the government of defeated Brazilian ex-president Jair Bolsonaro was arrested early Saturday in connection with the sacking of government buildings.
Anderson Torres, wanted under a Supreme Court warrant for alleged “collusion” with the rioters, was arrested at Brasilia airport as he arrived home from the United States.
Thousands of so-called “bolsonaristas” invaded the seats of government in the capital on Sunday, breaking windows and furniture, destroying priceless works of art, and leaving graffiti messages calling for a military coup.
More than 2,000 rioters were detained after the events, for which the full extent of the damage is still being calculated.
Torres was in charge of security for the capital city when thousands of rioters stormed Brazil’s Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court on Sunday Jan 8.
Brazil’s Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant last week, accusing Torres of alleged collusion with rioters behind attacks on government buildings.
Torres denies any role in the riots.
The Supreme Court also accuses Torres of omission – failure to act – in his role as the capital’s security chief.
According to Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, Torres’s “omission was amply proven by the predictability of the conduct of criminal groups and the lack of security that enabled the invasion of public buildings”.
A Supreme Court judge announced Friday that Bolsonaro will be included in an investigation into the origins of the sacking, which was sparked by anger at the far-right leader’s election defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula’s new justice minister Flavio Dino, who replaced Torres, also confirmed the discovery at Torres’ home of a draft decree proposing emergency steps for the possible “correction” of the October election that Lula won by a razor-thin margin.
The undated and unsigned draft bears Bolsonaro’s name at the bottom, but Dino said the authorship was unknown.
Published in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper late Thursday, the document foresees the creation of an election “regulation commission” to take over the electoral oversight functions of the Superior Electoral Court. — NNN-AGENCIES
