MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian Police to include latest Bolsonaro speech as evidence

In his speech Sunday, Bolsonaro admitted knowledge of a draft that provided for the decree of a state of siege

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) will include former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro's speech on Sunday in Sao Paulo into the probe regarding the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising believed to have been an attempted coup d'état, Agencia Brasil reported Monday citing sources linked to the investigation.

See also: Sao Paulo's main avenue packed with followers in support of Bolsonaro

In his speech Sunday on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, Bolsonaro admitted knowledge of a draft that provided for the decree of a state of siege, the arrest of parliamentarians and Supreme Federal Court (STF) judges, and supported an alleged coup d'état.

But he criticized the PF's criminal investigations into the draft. The former president's admission contrasts with his stance in his statement to the PF last Thursday when he remained silent.

A PF search and seizure operation in January last year found in the home of Anderson Torres, former Justice Minister under Bolsonaro, a draft that provided for the intervention of the Judiciary to prevent the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the calling for new elections.

The draft was also mentioned in the pleadings of Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, a former aide-de-camp to the President.

Bolsonaro is being investigated by the Federal Police (PF) and the Supreme Court over the Jan. 8, 2023, attack on the headquarters of the Three Branches of Government in Brasilia.

Other elements of proof are also being investigated, such as the video of a meeting held at the Alvorada Palace in July 2022. On that occasion, direct aides to the former president and a group of military officers suggested alternatives for attacking the electronic electoral system and the 2022 presidential election.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)