PF can hear Bolsonaro abroad on inquiry into coup acts

Former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since December of last year and has no plans to return to Brazil, may be forced to testify even abroad. The information was given by the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, during an interview with journalists this Tuesday afternoon (28). Bolsonaro is being investigated in different ongoing investigations by the Federal Police (PF), including the one that investigates attacks on electronic voting machines and the electoral system, and the one that investigates his involvement as one of the possible masterminds of the coup acts of January 8. “There is an ongoing investigation, and he is one of those formally investigated and, of course, that at some point he will have to be heard,” said the minister, after participating in an event at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília. “If he does not appear in the coming months, it is clear that the Federal Police will ask for measures. Ask who? To the Judiciary, to trigger some international cooperation mechanism, which is a tendency that we are defending. It is not something restricted to this investigation”, added the minister, referring to the investigation of anti-democratic acts. According to Dino, there is no deadline for a measure like this to be requested, and he spoke about the need for “common sense” on Bolsonaro’s part. “We hope he has,” he stressed. “It is not something that is on the agenda, today or tomorrow, but, at the limit, some measure of international legal cooperation would be possible, a rogatory letter, for example, would be possible”, he explained. Letter Rogatory is a legal instrument for communication between the Justices of different countries. When there is a need to carry out a diligence of the process in another country, including, for example, the testimony of a witness who is abroad, the government sends a Rogatory Letter to formalize the procedural act. Civilians and military The Minister of Justice also commented on the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to investigate and judge both civilians and military personnel suspected of involvement in the acts that resulted in the invasion of the headquarters of the Three Powers on January 8. As a result, military agents will be prosecuted by ordinary courts and not by military courts. “The decision of [ministro do STF] Alexandre de Moraes goes in the direction of what the Federal Police asked, aiming to make the investigation more effective, insofar as there is recognition of the connection, that is, that the facts are linked and that, therefore, the ideal is that the instruction and investigation, both in relation to civilians and military personnel, should be carried out jointly”, he observed. In the same decision, Moraes also opened an investigation into the participation of members of the Armed Forces and Military Police of the Federal District suspected of participating in the coup movement. The minister authorized the opening of the STF process when analyzing a request from the Federal Police to investigate the conduct of military personnel. According to the PF, there is suspicion of participation and omission of military personnel from the Institutional Security Office (GSI) and the Presidential Guard Battalion, based on testimonies by military police officers heard by the fifth phase of Operation Lesa Pátria.

Agência Brasil