The Federal Police carried out search and arrest warrants against former ministers of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and military personnel involved in the alleged attempt to maintain the former president in power on Thursday morning (8).
One of the targets was Bolsonaro himself, who handed over his passport to the Federal Police. In the decision authorizing the operation, Justice Alexandre de Moraes (Supreme Court) asserts that the former president had access and requested modifications to the so-called “coup draft.”
Bolsonaro reportedly received from former advisor Filipe Martins, who was arrested, and lawyer Amauri Feres Saad a draft decree for a coup d’état, with the arrest of authorities such as Moraes himself and Justice Gilmar Mendes, as well as Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco.
Messages exchanged between Colonel Marcelo Câmara, detained in the operation, and Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid in December 2022 indicate, according to the Federal Police, that the two were monitoring the steps of Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The plan, according to investigations, was to arrest him. The messages also show that at least six generals of the Armed Forces discussed with the former president the editing of a coup decree against the election of Lula (PT). Braga Netto, former Defense Minister, reportedly called then-Army Commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes “coward” for not adhering to the attempted coup.
The national president of PL, Valdemar Costa Neto, was arrested on the spot for illegal possession of a weapon. He was one of the targets of the operation. PL is the party of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Read more at Folha de S. Paulo
