The governor of Rio de Janeiro, (), stated that he saw an “excess of criminalization” in the arrest of the retired general determined by the minister, as part of the investigation investigating the planning of a coup after the 2022 presidential elections.
Castro said he was unable to find clear elements against the former minister of management (PL), his ally, and lamented that “Brazil is losing the ability to turn the page.”
“It’s very sad that Brazil can’t get out of this polarization situation. It’s very sad that every time a government leaves – this happened with people on the left, now it happens with people on the right –, there is an excess of criminalization,” he said him on Wednesday (18), during an interview about the end of the year with journalists at Palácio das Laranjeiras, the governor’s official residence.
“I think Brazil is losing the ability to turn the page. Whoever won, won. Will continue. Whoever lost, lost. Will wait four years. Things are still alive. Always a lot of criminalization of politics.”
Braga Netto was arrested on suspicion of acting to hinder investigations into the alleged coup plan. He is also being investigated for having participated in the alleged plan to monitor, arrest and kill Moraes and President Lula.
The reserve general’s defense of the investigations and that this will be proven. In a previous statement, he stated that “it was never a coup, much less a plan to assassinate someone.”
Castro even compared the investigations with Operation Lava Jato, whose decisions have been annulled by higher courts after alleged excesses by judges and prosecutors involved in the case.
“I thought that time had passed with the end of Lava Jato. But I think it is more alive than ever. Sometimes we try to find clear elements and we can’t find such clear elements for some situations”, said the governor.
“Maybe the time is coming for the courts to return more to the role of court. Politics, knowing how to lose. A good loser is also an important asset. We don’t have good losers or good winners.”
Castro was elected with the support of the former president (PL), also investigated in the STF inquiry.
As shown, Moraes’ decision to arrest Braga Netto reignited a legal debate about preventive arrests in Brazil and generates disagreements among experts.
The understanding on the part of the lawyers and law professors heard by the Sheet is that the reasoning used by the judge is supported by the elements disclosed so far.
Another line contests the weight attributed to , Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, as well as the framing of the general’s conduct as obstruction of justice.
