Brazilian authorities order arrest of top officials over capital riots

Authorities in Brazil have ordered the arrest of top public officials over the riots staged by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, storming the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace in the capital city.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Attorney General's office said the officials include Brasalia's former public security chief Anderson Torres and others "responsible for acts and omissions" leading to Sunday's riots, reports the BBC.

As a result of the violence, police commander Colonel Fabio Augusto was dismissed from his role, while the capital city's Governor Ibaneis Rocha has been removed for a period of 90 days by the Supreme Court.

 

Earlier on Tuesday, Ricardo Cappelli, who has been appointed to run security in Brasilia, accused Torres of "a structured sabotage operation".

Cappelli told CNN that there was a "lack of command" from Torres before government buildings were stormed.

Lula's inauguration on January 1 was "an extremely successful security operation" but on January 2 "Anderson Torres took over as Secretary of Security, dismissed the entire command and travelled", he said.

"If this isn't sabotage, I don't know what is," Cappelli told CNN.

In response, Torres said that he deeply regretted the "absurd hypotheses" that he played any part in the riots, adding that the riots, which occurred during his family holiday, were lamentable and that it was "the most bitter day" of his personal and professional life.

Also in the day, public prosecutors asked for a federal audit court to freeze Bolsonaro's assets in light of the riots, reports the BBC.

The former President, who has condemned the riots, is still yet to admitted defeat in the October 2022 run off polls against his rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and flew to Florida before the handover on January 1.

Meanwhile, of the approximately 1,500 people arrested and brought to the police academy after the riot, officials have said that nearly 600 have been taken to other facilities, where police officials have five days to formally charge them.

Wearing shirts in the colours of Brazil's flag -- yellow and green -- the protesters vandalised the buildings in capital Brasilia that house the South American nation's key democratic institutions, reports the BBC.

The police had to resort to firing tear gas when the demonstrators wrapped in the national flag surrounded the presidential palace.

The violence left behind widespread damage -- almost every window on the presidential palace building's ground floor had been destroyed, forcing crews to remove each pane of glass and replace it with a new one.

The cobblestone pavement outside the palace also showed signs of damage, with large patches torn out by the rioters.

In the nearby Congress building, valuable works of art, including several high-profile pieces, were reportedly damaged by water or defaced during the riot.

Lula has blamed security forces of "neglecting" their duty in not halting the "terrorist acts".

"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," he had said.

--IANS

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