Brazil’s Former President Bolsonaro Under Investigation In Probe Into Attempted Coup

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is being investigated as part of a probe into an alleged attempted coup to keep him in power, according to one of his former advisers.

Four persons were arrested, and 33 search warrants were executed Thursday as part of the investigation, according to a statement from the Brazilian Federal Police.

“On Thursday (8/2), the [Brazil] Federal Police launched Operation Tempus Veritatis to investigate the criminal organisation that acted in an attempt to stage a coup d’état and abolish the Democratic Rule of Law, in order to gain political advantage by keeping the then President of the Republic in power,” the statement went on to say.

A further 48 precautionary measures were imposed, including a restriction on contact with other people under investigation, a ban on leaving the country with an order to surrender passports within 24 hours, and a ban on performing public functions, according to police.

Brazil’s Former President Bolsonaro Under Investigation In Probe Into Attempted Coup

Police have not named any of the people under investigation, but Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, acknowledged in a post on X that the former president is among them.

Bolsonaro will surrender his passport “in accordance with today’s decisions,” Wajngarten said.

Bolsonaro has not been arrested or charged.

CNN affiliate CNN Brasil claimed that two aides to former President Bolsonaro were among those arrested, citing law enforcement sources. The arrests are also heavily covered in the Brazilian media.

CNN Brasil reports that other previous ministers from his administration are also being examined.

The police failed to comment on Bolsonaro’s involvement or the arrest of his associates.

Brazil’s Former President Bolsonaro Under Investigation In Probe Into Attempted Coup

However, the statement stated that the probe had unearthed evidence of coordinated efforts to create a narrative that fraud had occurred in the 2022 presidential election “in order to enable and legitimise military intervention.”

Police identified one “axis” of these operations as suspicions that Brazil’s electronic voting system was open to manipulation.

Bolsonaro frequently criticised Brazil’s electronic voting system despite being elected as a federal legislator five times and president once in elections using the same method.

His criticism of the electronic voting system began before he was elected president, but it peaked in the 2022 election when Bolsonaro lost to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil’s Former President Bolsonaro Under Investigation In Probe Into Attempted Coup

According to authorities, the purported conspiracy also included plans for a coup d’état involving military members.

“The facts under investigation constitute, in theory, the crimes of criminal organisation, violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law and coup d’état,” the statement says.

In a post on X, President Lula stated that it is “very difficult” for him to comment on a current police operation, but he hopes “no excesses were committed and that the full rigour of the law is applied.”

In an interview with Brazilian radio station Itatiaia on Thursday, Lula also expressed hope that Bolsonaro would be “afforded the presumption of innocence” that he had not previously had.

This refers to Lula’s historic conviction on corruption allegations, which was eventually overturned.

SOURCE – (CNN)