PGR approved Braga Netto’s arrest and said it was essential

The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Paulo Gonet (photo), agreed with the arrest of General Walter Braga Netto, on the same day that Minister Alexandre de Moraes signed the decision, on December 10th (Tuesday ).

“The request from the police authority (PF) convinces us of the indispensability of action to advance the investigations (…)”, said the prosecutor.

Gonet explained in the opinion that there would be “clear logical relevance”, and that there would be “necessity”, “adequacy” and “proportionality of the measure”.

“Interference in investigations”

Therefore, preventive detention would be a measure capable of guaranteeing public order, according to Gonet, to avoid the “continuity of the criminal scheme launched” and also “interference in ongoing investigations. Also according to the PGR, based on what was collected from the evidence, further steps are needed to make an additional and more comprehensive judgment on the authorship of the crimes.

The attorney general also identified that there is enough evidence for search and seizure measures in the homes of those being investigated. This is because, in the PGR’s assessment, there is strong evidence of the crimes of attempted violent abolition of the democratic State, coup d’état, damage qualified by violence and serious threat to the Union’s heritage, and with considerable damage to the victim, in addition to deterioration of the listed heritage.

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Arrest of former Bolsonaro minister

Braga Netto, general and former minister under Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested this Saturday morning (14) by the federal police. According to the Federal Police, he was trying to hinder the investigation into the attempted coup d’état after the 2022 elections.

In the decision that authorized the arrest, Moraes says that the PF identified that the general tried to obtain details of the testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, made in September last year, which is characterized as obstruction of Justice. He made contacts with Mauro Cid’s father, General Mauro César Lourena Cid.

Mauro Cid confirmed the general’s attempt to the Federal Police. Another argument points out that the PF, on February 8 of this year, the date of the launch of the “Tempus Veritatis” operation, found papers on the desk of Colonel Flávio Botelho Peregrino, Braga Netto’s advisor, which would guide questions and answers about whistleblowing.

Braga Netto was arrested at his home, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, and taken to the Federal Police headquarters in the city. He will undergo a custody hearing today at 2pm.

As he is a soldier, he will be handed over to the Army and will be kept in custody.