Bolsonaro’s former justice minister denies the interference in the PRF that was allegedly aimed at making it difficult for Lula’s voters to access polling stations. He also answers for allegedly omitting the January 8 and Federal Highway (PRF) “draft coup” in the second round of the 2022 presidential election.
The former minister and former Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District has been arrested since January 14 on charges of omission and connivance in the acts of coup d’état of January 8 this year, which culminated in the looting of the headquarters of the three branches of the government in the federal capital.
Torres is also suspected of being behind the blockades carried out by the PRF in several parts of the northeastern states on the day of the second round of elections, in an alleged attempt to favor the candidacy of then-President Jair Bolsonaro by making it difficult for voters to access Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva da Silva at the polling stations. The region has traditionally been an important support base for the PT.
The former minister denies interference in the PRF
Suspicions about Bolsonaro’s ex-minister would be justified by the fact that he traveled to Salvador between the first and second electoral rounds, where he met PRF leaders in the region.
In the nearly three-hour statement to the PF, Torres said he traveled at the invitation of the then director general of Federal Highway Policy, Márcio Nunes de Oliveira, to carry out an inspection at a work at the company’s regional superintendency.
The PF, however, suspects that Torres would have asked the PF to work with the PRF to implement blocks in regions where Lula had received more votes than Bolsonaro in the first round.
According to the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, the former minister told the PF that his only concern was to fight electoral crimes, regardless of candidate or party. He allegedly ensured that his conversation with PF superintendent in Bahia, Leandro Almada, revolved around a concern expressed by the state’s Regional Electoral Tribunal (TRE) about a possible police shortage on election day.
It denied interference in PF and PRF’s operational plans and said there was no determination for joint action by the two companies.
Ratio to places where Lula won in the 1st round
According to the Poder360 portal, Torres also said that he had not shared with the PRF an intelligence report on the results of the first round votes that he received from the Ministry of Justice.
A report in the O Globo newspaper revealed that a team from Torres would send him a list of cities where Lula had received the most votes in the first round of elections and where the police should act.
In a statement released after the testimony, Torres’ lawyer, Eumar Novacki, said that the “deposition took place in the normal course”, that his client “waived his constitutional right to silence and answered all the questions raised “.
According to Novacki, the former minister maintained the position of “cooperating in the investigation, he being the main one interested in clarifying the facts quickly and believing that the truth will prevail”.
“Worsening of the mental picture”
The deposition was scheduled for April 24, but was postponed by the PF to this Monday after Torres’ defense said his health had deteriorated dramatically, with a “worsening psychological health condition”. The worsening would have occurred after the minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court (Stf), had denied a request for release sent by his lawyers.
After the former minister changed his lawyer in March, the defense began asking for his release and the postponement of his appointments with the Justice due to his worsening health conditions. The lawyers argue that the former minister has been suffering from psychological problems since his arrest and that he has “entered a state of deep sadness, he is crying constantly, barely eating and has already lost 12 kilos”.
coup project
Suspected use of the PRF in a “coup operation” against Lula voters in the northeast was one of the arguments presented by Moraes to deny Torres’ release.
The magistrate cited the draft presidential decree found during searches of the former minister’s residence ordering Bolsonaro to set up a state of defense to change the outcome of the elections. The document would authorize the then president to interfere in the work of the Higher Electoral Tribunal (TSE). The decree, if published, would be unconstitutional.
In denying release, Moraes considered that there were “strong indications of the applicant’s participation in the preparation of an alleged ‘draft coup’ and in a ‘coup operation’ by the Federal Traffic Police to try to subvert the legitimate popular participation in the 2nd round of the 2022 presidential elections”.
The minister also specified that Torres “deprived the investigation of the possibility of access to his mobile phone, consequently, to the exchanges of messages carried out on the day of the coup and in the periods before and after; and to his electronic messages”. .
Travel to the United States before the coup takes place
Torres was arrested shortly after the January 8 coup in Brasilia. Recently appointed by the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha, Secretary of Public Safety for the Federal District, he had traveled to the United States days before the bombings at the headquarters of the three Powers. Upon returning to Brazil, Torres said he lost his cell phone.
Monday’s testimony was Torres’ third since his arrest. He has already testified on the allegations of omission in the documents of January 8 and on the “coup plot” found in his home.
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Source: Terra
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