Investigations that affect () and its surroundings, such as those involving the former president and the one in 2022, have been marked by preventive arrests decreed by the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court).
This month, they were preventively arrested on suspicion of planning a coup d’état by (PT), his deputy, (), and Moraes, at the time president of the (Superior Electoral Court).
With these decisions, Moraes has already ordered at least 64 orders of this type since 2020, according to a survey by Sheet.
The 64 preventive arrests determined by Moraes, and accounted for by Sheetdo not take into account cases related to participants in the invasions of the buildings of the three Powers on January 8, 2023.
In addition to the coup plot and the alleged vaccination card fraud, decisions were considered in investigations involving the actions of a digital militia to attack institutions, anti-democratic acts and the political use of the (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) — which remained known as “parallel Abin”.
The Code of Criminal Procedure states that this type of arrest can be ordered in the middle of an investigation “as a guarantee of public order, for the convenience of criminal investigation or to ensure the application of criminal law, when there is proof of the existence of the crime and sufficient evidence of authorship.”
Experts say that preventive detention is the most serious precautionary action possible during the investigation and should only be adopted when it is proven that other options are insufficient, such as a ban on leaving a certain location or communicating with suspects.
When contacted through the STF press office, the minister did not comment on the matter.
The (Attorney General’s Office) has agreed with the preventive arrests ordered so far by Moraes in these investigations.
President of IBCCrim (Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences), Renato Vieira states that preventive detention cannot be seen as “anticipation of the sentence” and, to make use of the instrument, it is necessary to observe the “contemporaneity” of the reasons that led to it —highlighting that it is an exceptional measure.
Vieira states that it is questionable, for example, that the requirement is applied in the investigation into the 2022 coup plot. “Now public order is under control”, he says.
In the five most recent arrests against those investigated in the coup plot, it was pointed out that they could disrupt the investigation or public order because of the “profile and seriousness” of their actions.
Investigators also stated that the group used tactics to erase or encrypt documents during the attempt to prevent Lula from taking office. When accepting the request for preventive detention, Moraes said that the PF “demonstrated the presence of the necessary and sufficient requirements.”
One of those arrested in last week’s operation, Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Martins de Oliveira, was issued a precautionary measure in February.
The lieutenant colonel, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, was also the target of two preventive detention orders decreed by Moraes.
The first, in May 2023, under suspicion of vaccination card fraud — the PF pointed out the risk of “criminal repetition” and also that it could hinder the “smooth progress of criminal investigation”.
The military man, a key player in the investigations against Bolsonaro, including the coup plot, was released in September of the same year.
Cid was arrested again in 2024. He spent just over a month behind bars after audio recordings were revealed criticizing his conduct of the plea agreement signed with the Federal Police.
There were situations in which the precautionary measure lasted for more than a year.
This was the case of the colonel of the Military Police of the Federal District, then head of the sector responsible for developing the security plan in the federal capital to prevent the attacks on January 8th. Naime spent 15 months in jail.
Targeted by (Federal Highway Police) to favor Bolsonaro voters in the 2022 elections, the former general director of the organization Silvinei Vasques passed
When revoking the arrest, Moraes said that the initial reasons for restricting Silvinei’s freedom no longer applied. The main one was the understanding that it could pose a risk to research.
Silvinei’s arrest was questioned by his lawyers because the PF had not even completed the investigation and indicted the former director. Keeping him in Papuda for a year, in the defense’s view, would be an anticipation of a sentence for a person who was not reported.
Lawyer Enzo Fachini states that preventive detention “requires strict and clear criteria for its application” and is subject to criteria established by law, such as “when there is evidence that the person being investigated represents a concrete risk of repeating the crime or disturbing the order”.
Acacio Miranda, doctor in constitutional law and master in international criminal law from the University of Granada (Spain), also states that preventive detention should be an exception.
He assesses that Justice has been influenced by the “media factor” and “polarization” when adopting preventive arrests. “This is happening now, but we saw it in the Mensalão, in Lava Jato,” he says.
Renato Vieira, from IBCCrim, also expressed concern about the use of plea bargains “as a shortcut to investigations” and a way of anticipating release. “It’s not an addiction of Moraes, of . It’s a long-standing pathology.”
Moro was criticized when he was a judge for, during investigations, maintaining long prison terms that ended up forcing plea bargains.
Another worrying effect he points out is that the decisions coming from the STF guide the way in which lower court judges act.
Miranda follows the same line. “Unfortunately, these more notorious media decisions end up creating jurisprudence so that floor judges feel encouraged to do the same”, he states.
Targets of preventive arrests
Anderson Torres (4 months in prison)
Former DF Public Security Secretary, Torres was arrested in January 2023 upon disembarking from a trip to the USA under suspicion of failure to act on the 8th. At the beginning of May of that year, Moraes revoked the order.
Jorge Eduardo Naime Barreto (15 months in prison)
The DF PM colonel had preventive arrest ordered by Moraes at the beginning of February 2023. Naime was the head of the sector responsible for developing the security plan in the federal capital to prevent the attacks on January 8th. The order was revoked in May this year.
Mauro Cid (5 months in prison)
Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp was arrested in May 2023 during a PF operation as part of the investigation into the falsification of the vaccination card of the former president and other people. He was released in September, but returned to jail this year after the revelation of audio recordings criticizing the military’s conduct of his plea agreement.
Silvinei Vasques (12 months in prison)
The former director of the Federal Highway Police during the Bolsonaro administration was arrested in August 2023 under suspicion of irregular use of public machinery to interfere in the 2022 elections, preventing or hindering the movement of voters. The release took place on the eve of the court order completing one year.
Filipe Martins (6 months in prison)
Bolsonaro’s former special advisor to the Presidency was arrested in February 2024suspected of involvement in the coup attempt to keep the former president in power. In the final investigation report, Martins is named as a member of the “legal nucleus”. He was released in August.
