STF assistant judge maintains Braga Netto’s arrest after custody hearing
Judge Rafael Henrique Janela Tamai Rocha, assistant in the office of Minister Alexandre de Moraes at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), maintained the preventive detention of General Walter Braga Netto after hearing him at the custody hearing this Saturday afternoon (14), for videoconferencing.
The custody hearing is standard procedure. It is used by the judge to assess the legality of executing the arrest warrant. Aspects such as the treatment given to the prisoner are analyzed. Preventive detention has no end date.
What led Minister Alexandre de Moraes to authorize the arrest? Look
Minister cites “leadership, organization and financing role” on the part of the general, in addition to indications that he had acted “repeatedly” to “embarrass the investigations”
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Arrest is related to investigations into an attempted coup d’état that occurred after the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the Presidency of the Republic, in 2022
Braga Netto will be detained at the Command of the 1st Army Division, in Vila Militar de Deodoro, in Rio de Janeiro.
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Estadão sought the defense of the general, who had not yet spoken out at the time of writing this text.
Braga Netto was arrested for trying to obstruct the investigation. According to the Federal Police, he tried to obtain confidential information about Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s accusation to pass on to other people being investigated and also aligned versions with allies.
When speaking in favor of the arrest, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, stated that he saw a “concrete risk” to the investigation if the general were kept free.
As the arrest was ordered on suspicion of obstructing the investigation, the general will not be able to receive visits without authorization from the STF, including from family members. Only lawyers registered in the files will have direct access to the former minister.
Braga Netto is one of 40 indicted by the PF for coup d’état, criminal organization and violent abolition of the rule of law.
The former minister was mentioned 98 times in the coup investigation report and named as a “central figure” of the coup plot.
