Bahama Times

Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Jair Bolsonaro Denies Role In Brazil Capital Riots

Jair Bolsonaro Denies Role In Brazil Capital Riots

Thousands of Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasilia on January 8, a week after Lula took office.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday denied all involvement in anti-government riots by his supporters in January as he appeared before federal police.

The far-right leader is being investigated for his alleged role in masterminding and instigating the riots that sought the overthrow of his successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, who returned to Brazil in late March after spending three months in the US state of Florida, was questioned for more than two hours at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, but left in a vehicle with tinted windows without speaking to reporters.

Shortly afterward, Bolsonaro's spokesman Fabio Wajngarten told the press that the former president had "repudiated all the unfortunate events that happened in Brasilia" on the day of the riot.

One reason the investigation was launched was because two days after the riot, Bolsonaro shared a video to social media of a prosecutor contesting the validity of Lula's victory.

Bolsonaro's lawyer Paulo Bueno said the president had been under the effect of medication and had just been admitted to hospital when he shared the video.

"The sharing was so accidental that he did not mention it afterward and soon deleted it," said Bueno after the hearing.

Lula, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, narrowly beat Bolsonaro in a fractious, divisive election last October.

Thousands of Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace in Brasilia on January 8, a week after Lula took office.

In scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 riots in Washington by supporters of ex-president Donald Trump -- Bolsonaro's political role model -- they trashed offices, smashed windows, vandalized artworks and called for the military to intervene to oust Lula.

Some 1,800 people have been arrested.

Numerous investigations

Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida on December 30, two days before he was due to hand over the presidential sash to Lula.

On January 13, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes opened an investigation into Bolsonaro's alleged involvement in the January 8 rampage, in which rioters easily broke through a security cordon.

A parliamentary committee of inquiry is due to be set up soon in Congress to shed light on the events of January 8.

Former army captain Bolsonaro was previously interviewed by police on April 5 in relation to an accusation that he tried to illegally import millions of dollars worth of jewelry gifted by Saudi Arabia.

A source close to the former president told AFP that he denied that accusation.

Bolsonaro is the subject of at least 16 other investigations in which, if found guilty, he could be sentenced to prison or disqualified from politics.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×