Ex-Bolsonaro Cabinet minister arrested in Brazil over alleged coup plot

SAO PAULO — Brazil's Federal Police on Saturday arrested a former member of President Jair Bolsonaro's Cabinet and his 2022 running mate in connection with investigations into an alleged coup plot, the Supreme Court said in a statement.

Gen. Walter Braga Netto was formally accused in November, along with Bolsonaro and 35 others, of plotting a coup to keep Bolsonaro in office following his failed 2022 reelection bid.

Prosecutors have yet to file formal charges against Braga Netto. The arrest made on Saturday stemmed from allegations of obstructing the collection of evidence, the Federal Police said in a statement.

The arrest request was authorized by the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, with a favorable assessment from the Prosecutor-General's office.

A court statement said police formally requested the general to be preventively detained because its agents identified ''robust evidence'' that he sought to discover what a former Bolsonaro aide, who signed a plea bargain, was telling authorities.

Authorities also executed search and seizure warrants against Braga Netto and his aide, Col. Flávio Botelho Peregrino.

Braga Netto served as Bolsonaro's chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 and as defense minister from 2021 to 2022.

In November, Brazil's Federal Police unsealed the final report of its investigation into the plan to keep Bolsonaro in office by overturning the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022. Federal Police portray Braga Netto as one of the plot's leaders, also involved in pressuring military leaders to sign onto the coup.

The 884-page document, substantiated by evidence and testimony, described a multi-step scheme. The plan included systematically sowing distrust of the electoral system among the populace, drafting a decree to give the plot a veneer of legal basis, pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan, and inciting a riot in the capital.

According to the investigation, the plan included a plot to assassinate Lula, vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Investigators allege Braga Netto greenlit the assassination plan at a meeting with the plotters inside his home.

The assassination plan sought to leave Bolsonaro's ticket as the only remaining valid one in the 2022 runoff, police said. De Moraes led a five-year probe into fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led some far-right allies and supporters being barred from social media and even imprisoned.

The police report contains no indication that any attempt to assassinate Lula or Alckmin was put into motion. However, investigators found messages and documents indicating that the plotters were monitoring and following de Moraes at the time.

Braga Netto, the former president and his main allies have denied any wrongdoing or involvement and accuse the authorities of political persecution.

Reactions to the arrest were divided along the same political line that has split the South American nation since Bolsonaro took power.

Bolsonaro wrote on social media platform X that the arrest was ordered on a questionable basis, while the ex-president's allies railed at authorities for what they called another case of authorities breaking legal norms.

Lula's government and members of his party called it a win for democracy and justice in Brazil.