Brazilian police have accused Walter Braga Netto of interfering in an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2022 presidential election.
Brazilian police have arrested a former defense minister and ally of former President Jair Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into an attempted coup to overturn the South American country’s 2022 election results.
General Walter Braga Netto was formally accused last month, along with Bolsonaro and 35 others, of plotting a coup to keep the former far-right president in office after his failed re-election bid.
Prosecutors have not yet formally charged Braga Netto, who served as President Bolsonaro’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 and defense minister from 2021 to 2022.
Federal police said in a statement that Saturday’s arrest was on suspicion of obstructing the collection of evidence.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the arrests, said the arrests came after investigators found evidence that Braga Netto had played a larger role in the alleged coup than previously thought. Ta.
Braga Netto denied any involvement in the alleged conspiracy.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters and the Associated Press.
In November, Brazil’s federal police released the final report of an investigation into a plot by Bolsonaro’s left-wing rival, current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to overturn his 2022 election victory and keep him in office. did.
Federal police consider Braga Netto to be one of the masterminds of the plot, and say he was also involved in pressuring military leaders to sign the coup.
The 884-page document includes the systematic instillation of distrust in the electoral system among Brazilians, the drafting of decrees that give the conspiracy a legal basis, the pressure on military leaders to comply with the plan, and the incitement of riots. A multi-step plan was described, including: In the capital.
According to the investigation, the plot included plots to assassinate Lula, Vice President-elect Gerardo Alcumin, and Supreme Court Justice de Moraes.
Investigators have accused Blaga Netto of giving the go-ahead for the assassination plot during a meeting with the conspirators in his home.
Federal police also said Braga Net provided funds to those involved in the conspiracy.
On Saturday, police said the retired general had tried to intervene in the investigation, including by trying to extract details from a written statement from Bolsonaro’s close aide Mauro Cid, who is cooperating with police.
Federal police said in a statement that they had filed two search warrants in connection with the arrest.
The military said in a statement that searches were carried out at Braga Netto’s residence in Rio de Janeiro and at the home of retired colonel Flavio Botelho Pellegrino in Brasilia.
Pellegrino was not immediately available for comment, according to Reuters.
