President of the STF cites explosions in Brasília and investigations into a coup d’état; says it is necessary to put the “genie back in the bottle”
The president of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Luís Roberto Barroso said on Thursday (November 21, 2024) that “the level of concern” with security increased after recent events. Among them, those in Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília on November 13 and the disclosure, this week, of a plan to kill the president (PT), the vice-president (PSB) and the minister of the Court Alexandre de Moraes.
“Security is a concern. Needless to say, I have someone who takes care of this for me, and I hand it over to him and God, so I can’t say the details. But, evidently, the level of concern increased”, declared Barroso, quoted by the newspaper, after participating in an event organized by a medical organization in São Paulo.
“What happened to us having this kind of attitude, of people thinking about murdering public officials, of a suicide bomber? Where did we lose our affectionate, joyful and irreverent soul to this new angry, aggressive, dangerous modality? We need to put this genie back in the bottle”, said Barroso.
The STF minister’s statement comes in the wake of the Countercoup operation, launched by the PF (Federal Police) on November 19. The investigations target suspects of being part of a criminal organization responsible for planning a coup d’état to prevent the elected government from taking office in the 2022 elections. Those responsible would be members of a military group, known as “black kids”, operating in the Special Forces of the Army and support from a federal police officer.
On Thursday (November 21), the former president (PL), the former Minister of Defense, General Braga Netto, the former aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, and 34 other people for involvement in the alleged coup attempt.
Barroso did not mention names. He declared that Brazil was “close to the unimaginable”but it passed “in the test of institutionality”.
He stated: “These attitudes of disrespect for the rule of law, of threats of murder, are from people who rescued a very old and very sad film. Fortunately, the leaders of the Armed Forces did not embark on this disastrous adventure”.
The magistrate spoke about the events of January 8, 2023, when the headquarters of the Three Powers were invaded. He said that Brazil “it is very difficult to punish”, since people start to feel sorry for those involved. But, according to him, Justice needs to act to prevent situations like this from recurring.
“In Brazil, people want amnesty before judging, it is a somewhat complex operation. What happened there was not trivial. We had a serious historical process of extremism that the Supreme Court had to face, I think it faced it well and, in a way, it pays the price for having been on that front”, he declared.
“People may disagree with a point here and there, but, in general, I think that Minister Alexandre’s conduct was serious and courageous, with the support of the Court, and we managed to avoid the worst”, he stated.
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