The general’s defense Walter Braga Net requested the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to return the military’s electronic devices seized by the Federal Police (PF) in the investigation into an alleged coup attempt.
The items include a cell phone, computer and flash drives, collected in four locations related to the former minister of the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) during Operation Tempus Veritatis, in February last year.
The lawyers argue that the contents of the devices have already been extracted and used in preparing the final report of the investigation, which resulted in the indictment of Braga Netto. According to the defense, “the maintenance of the seized devices and media is no longer of interest to the process, allowing for their restitution”.
Preventively detained since December 14, 2024, the general is accused of organizing coup actions and trying to access confidential information from the plea bargain of Mauro Cid, Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp. According to the PF, there is a risk that the soldier will interfere in the investigations if he is released.
Braga Netto is identified by the PF as a central figure in planning a coup to prevent the president from taking office Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The objective would be to keep Bolsonaro in power after his defeat in the 2022 presidential elections. The military’s defense denies his participation in any coup attempt.
According to the investigation, the alleged coup plan included the arrest of STF ministers, in addition to the murder of Lula, his deputy, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB)and the minister of the STF Alexandre de Moraes. According to the PF, Braga Netto was not only aware of the plan, but also financed the agents who would carry out the operation.
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Braga Netto’s preventive arrest took place at his residence, in Copacabana, in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. The PF justified the detention alleging a risk to public order, given the general’s power of influence and his supposed ability to commit new obstructive acts.
Furthermore, the seized items played a crucial role in uncovering the political articulations that would have been led by the former minister and other Bolsonaro allies. However, the defense maintains that the devices lost their relevance during the course of the process, as all the content has already been analyzed by the authorities.
So far, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, responsible for the case at the STF, has not commented on the request to return the electronics.
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(With Estadão Content)
