Top government officials in Brazil have been detained after rioters stormed important government buildings in Brasilia.
According to local media, one official—the former military police commander—has been detained.
The attorney general’s office said that the officials are also “responsible for acts and omissions” that resulted in the disturbances, including the former head of Brasilia’s public security, Anderson Torres.
According to Mr. Torres, he took no part in the protests whatsoever.
After Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court, Colonel Fábio Augusto, the police chief, was relieved of his duties.
A week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, took office, violence broke out.
In the dramatic events, thousands of protesters overran police and ransacked the center of the Brazilian state while some were wearing yellow Brazil football shirts and waving flags.
Nearly 600 of the roughly 1,500 people who were detained following the violence and transported to the police academy have reportedly been transferred to other locations, where police officers have five days to file formal charges against them.
The federal official who intervenes in matters of public safety accused Mr. Torres of “a systematic sabotage operation” earlier on Tuesday.
Before government buildings were besieged, according to Ricardo Cappelli, who has been chosen to oversee security in Brasilia, there was a “lack of command” from Mr. Torres.
According to Mr. Cappelli, CNN, Lula’s inauguration on January 1 was “an incredibly effective security operation.”
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Before Sunday, he claimed that “Anderson Torres took over as Secretary of Security on January 2, fired the entire command, and traveled.”
“If this isn’t sabotage, I don’t know what is,” Mr. Cappelli added.
Mr. Torres expressed his sadness at the “absurd notions” that he was involved in the rioting in any way.
He described the scenes, which took place while his family was on vacation, as heartbreaking and referred to that day as “the most terrible day” of his personal and professional existence.
In failing to put an end to the “terrorist activities” in Brasilia, Lula has charged the security personnel with “neglecting” their duties.
In light of the disturbances, public prosecutors requested on Tuesday that Mr. Bolsonaro’s assets be frozen by a federal audit court.
The nation was divided by the tight election in October, and the former president, who has condemned the violence, has not conceded loss. He fled to the US before the transfer of power on January 1st.
He was hospitalized at a Florida hospital on Monday because of abdominal pain brought on by a stabbing that occurred during his 2018 election campaign. According to reports, he was discharged on Tuesday.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro declared his intention to travel back to Brazil sooner than expected. His initial departure date from the US was set for the end of January.
A camp of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters in Brasilia was one of many that had been established outside army facilities across the nation since the presidential election, and heavily armed officers began demolishing it the day following the rioting.
Ibaneis Rocha, the governor of Brasilia, removed Mr. Torres from his position as secretary of public security on Sunday. Mr. Torres had previously been Mr. Bolsonaro’s justice minister.
Later, the Supreme Court ordered Mr. Rocha to resign from his position for a period of 90 days.
In addition, Lula has targeted the security forces, charging them with “incompetence, bad faith, or malice” for failing to prevent protesters from entering Congress.
“You will see in the images that they [police officers] are guiding people on the walk to Praca dos Tres Powers,” he said. “We are going to find out who the financiers of these vandals who went to Brasília are and they will all pay with the force of law.”
O Globo, a Brazilian news agency, released a video of some police grinning and posing for pictures while protesters occupied the congressional campus in the backdrop.
On the lawns in front of the legislature and all down the kilometer-long Esplanada road, which is lined with government buildings and historical sites, protesters had gathered since the morning.
Despite the demonstrators’ efforts, security had appeared to be tight in the hours prior to the pandemonium, with the roads around the parliament area closed for roughly a block and armed police pairs monitoring each entry.
On Sunday morning local time, the BBC reported that there were roughly 50 police officers there. Cars were being turned away at entry points, while people coming in on foot were being frisked and their baggage checked.
The BBC’s South America correspondent, Katy Watson, claims that some protesters aren’t simply upset that Mr. Bolsonaro lost the race; they also want President Lula to be put back in jail.
She added that Mr. Bolsonaro has become extremely silent since losing the polls in October and that by doing so, he has allowed his most passionate supporters to continue to be upset about a legitimately lost democratic election.
Six hours after the riots started, the former president posted on Twitter to deny responsibility for the attack and to denounce it.
His son, Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, claimed on Tuesday that his father has been “licking his wounds” since losing the race and that people shouldn’t try to connect him to the violence.
Source : BBCNEWS
