Net tightens on Bolsonaro as police seize passport in coup probe

[Judi Lynn]

3:59 pm on 9 February 2024
By Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito and Gabriel Stargardter for Reuters

Brazilian police on Thursday confiscated former President Jair Bolsonaro's passport and accused him of editing a draft decree to overturn election results, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice.

The bombshell allegations are the result of a probe into Bolsonaro and his inner circle for allegedly plotting a military coup after his electoral loss to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022. Thursday's operation included search warrants against four former ministers and the arrest of four former aides.

The confiscation of Bolsonaro's passport augurs badly for the former leader, a far-right populist often likened to former US President Donald Trump.

A federal police official directly involved in Thursday's raids said the evidence against Bolsonaro was strong, adding that the seizure of his passport offers benefits of an arrest, such as mitigating flight risk, without creating as much noise.

More:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/508774/net-tightens-on-bolsonaro-as-police-seize-passport-in-coup-probe

[Judi Lynn]

1. Members of Brazilian ex-President Bolsonaro's Cabinet accused of coup attempt

Federal Police detain several individuals close to Bolsonaro, including former Cabinet ministers, high-ranking military personnel
Alperen Aktaş |
09.02.2024 - Update : 09.02.2024

BOGOTA, Colombia

Several officials close to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, including members of the Cabinet, have been detained on charges of attempting a coup against the government of the nation’s current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

At the instruction of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Federal Police on Thursday carried out the operation, which also detained former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who served in Bolsonaro's Cabinet in 2019-2022, as well as top generals.

The detainees are accused of attempting a coup against the government of Lula da Silva, who won the October 2022 elections, and of organizing a criminal organization, said a Federal Police statement. The Supreme Court also ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passport within 24 hours.

Tumultuous transition

On Oct. 30, 2022, in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election, leftist Lula got 50.9% of the votes, while far-right Bolsonaro got 49.1%.
Following the announcement of the election results, Bolsonaro supporters staged days of highway blockades in the country, then called on the armed forces to interfere with Lula's assumption of the presidency in demonstrations in front of military headquarters.

More:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/members-of-brazilian-ex-president-bolsonaros-cabinet-accused-of-coup-attempt/3132271

[Easterncedar]

2. That's how to do it

We let things get blurred, and now the complicit politicians are denying it ever happened, even that they ever had to run in fear for their lives.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Federal Police: Bolsonaro discussed, altered draft outlining coup

Six groups were responsible for making the coup d'état a reality

Published on 02/08/2024 - 15:00 By Felipe Pontes - Brasília

In the decision authorizing operation Tempus Veritatis, launched Thursday (Feb. 8) by the Federal Police, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes highlights an excerpt from a police report according to which former President Jair Bolsonaro received a draft decree from a direct adviser “to carry out a coup d’état.”

Elsewhere, the report, cited directly by Justice Moraes, points to meetings with high-ranking members of the military, both active and retired, regarding operational aspects of the coup. The police also mention assemblies at the Alvorada Palace, the presidential residence, attended by Bolsonaro, which included discussions about the military's adherence to the plot for a coup d'état.

The federal investigators have identified a total of six groups active in the attempted putsch and the attack on the democratic rule of law, each with its own goal: disinformation and attacks on the electoral system; incitement to a coup among the military; legal action; operational support; parallel intelligence; and high-ranking officers who legitimized the efforts.

Warranties
On Thursday, the Federal Police served a total of 48 warrants, four of them for arrest. Among those investigated are former Institutional Security Cabinet head General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, former Chief of Staff General Walter Souza Braga Netto, and former Defense Minister General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira.

Also targeted in the operation were former Justice and Public Security Minister Anderson Torres and former Special Adviser to the President for International Affairs Filipe Martins, who was arrested during a raid in Paraná state. Another target is the president of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto. A search and seizure order was carried out at the party's headquarters in Brasília.

All the measures authorized by Justice Moraes were endorsed by Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who stated that the people involved, as reported by the police, “aimed in practice to reverse the result of the 2022 presidential elections in order to prevent the elected candidate from taking office, thus keeping former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro in power.”

More:
https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/geral/noticia/2024-02/federal-police-bolsonaro-discussed-altered-draft-outlining-coup

[GreenWave]

4. Coup plotters the world over need to walk the plank!