Brazil: Judge Orders Bolsonaro To Testify About Riots

Facts

• Following a request made by the country's Attorney General, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered former Pres. Jair Bolsonaro to testify within 10 days about the marching of key government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8.¹
• This order is part of an investigation into the possible role of Bolsonaro in the storming of Congress, the presidential palace, and the top court's headquarters by hundreds of his supporters.²
• De Moraes argued the right-wing leader's account of the day is crucial for clarity around those events, which current Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has deemed an attempted 'coup d'état.'³
• Bolsonaro, who never explicitly conceded last year's presidential election and cast doubt over Brazil's electronic voting system, was in Florida during the riots, but prosecutors are probing whether he encouraged his supporters to create chaos.⁴
• Investigators want him to be interrogated over a video he posted online and later deleted, which claimed that Pres. Lula wasn't voted into office but rather picked by the country's Supreme Court and electoral authority.⁵
• Federal electoral prosecutors have also urged the Superior Electoral Court to ban Bolsonaro, who returned to Brazil in March after a self-imposed exile in the US, from running for office for eight years for making controversial claims about the integrity of the voting system in a meeting with diplomatic corps in July.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Wall Street Journal, ³CNN, ⁴FOX News, ⁵BBC News and ⁶Reuters.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by The brazilian report. Even if the coup failed, accountability for what happened in Brazil isn't only a matter of justice but is crucial for the future of the country's democracy. The current investigation is likely to reveal a coordinated, multi-pronged attempt by Bolsonaro and his accomplices to undermine the election's result. Despite the many similarities to the US Capitol riots, the political influence of Brazil's military cannot be underestimated, and this is a concern that politicians must confront in the future.
• Right narrative, as provided by Systemupdate. The Jan. 8 storming of government buildings was relatively non-violent, with no grave injuries or deaths. And, despite some damage to building interiors, Bolsonaro never encouraged these people to gather that day in the first place, let alone attempt to stage a military coup. The mainstream media is promoting a conspiracy that doesn't exist while ignoring that Brazilians are fully capable of protesting and distrusting institutions without being guided by US politicians.