CNN
—
Brazilian police looking out the home of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s justice minister discovered a draft decree proposing the introduction of a state of protection to overturn the results of the nation’s presidential election, the ministry’s spokeswoman advised CNN.
Justice Ministry spokeswoman Lorena Ribeiro stated Federal Police discovered the doc whereas finishing up a search and arrest warrant on the home of Anderson Torres on Tuesday.
She stated it proposed implementing a “state of protection” within the Superior Electoral Court docket whereas Bolsonaro was nonetheless chief in an effort to overturn the victory of his rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, within the October election. The draft had not been signed by Bolsonaro, Ribeiro stated.
A state of protection is a authorized measure that enables the sitting President to intervene in different areas of presidency to safe public order. Whereas Bolsonaro misplaced the October election, he remained president till the tip of December.
CNN has not considered the doc and Torres – who served as justice minister till the Bolsonaro administration left workplace – has issued an announcement on social media denying he was the writer of the decree.
“As Minister of Justice, we’re confronted with hearings, recommendations, and proposals of essentially the most numerous sorts,” he wrote. “In my home there was a pile of paperwork to be discarded, the place probably the fabric described within the article was discovered,” he added. “All the things can be taken to be shredded on the Ministry of Justice sooner or later.”
Torres recommended that the decree draft had been intentionally leaked to media to discredit him.
“The cited doc was picked up after I wasn’t there and leaked out of context, serving to to gas fallacious narratives towards me. We have been the primary ministry to ship administration reviews for the transition (of energy),” he stated. “I respect Brazilian democracy. I’ve a transparent conscience relating to my function as minister.”
After leaving authorities, Torres took workplace as the top of Safety for the Federal District of Brasilia, however was fired on Sunday after protesters breached police obstacles and broke into authorities buildings. He had traveled to Orlando, Florida, allegedly on vacation, simply days earlier than the riots and was there as occasions unfolded.
Torres vowed to chop his vacation brief and face justice after search and arrest warrants have been issued by the Brazilian Supreme Court docket, denying any wrongdoing.
Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court docket issued Torres a preventive detention order beneath an arrest warrant issued on Wednesday.
The draft paperwork have been first reported by Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo on Thursday.
Brazil’s new Justice Minister Flavio Dino advised CNN Brasil on Thursday the existence of the draft decree was “appalling” and stated what it referred to as for was “unconstitutional.”
“I didn’t have entry to the doc and based on the press reviews, it was a decree for a coup d’état that emphasizes what we noticed on January 8 (the day of the riots), which wasn’t an remoted case. It was a component of a sequence, a hyperlink in a coup chain in Brazil that had preparatory and astonishing acts, corresponding to a decree of army intervention within the Electoral Court docket, which is unconstitutional,” Dino stated.
He additionally criticized Torres for conserving the doc at his residence. “A public agent, upon turning into conscious of a criminal offense, mustn’t maintain such a doc at residence. It’s one thing that basically reveals the desire of closing the Supreme Court docket, the Congress, of stopping the liberty of the Brazilian individuals to decide on their rulers. And all makes an attempt failed, together with the one on January 8.”
“What can I say to the Brazilian nation is that if somebody provides me a doc of that nature, they might be arrested, as a result of it’s prison. I wouldn’t maintain it, I wouldn’t grind it,” Dino stated.