The defense of former Navy Commander Almir Garnier said he will answer all questions during the interrogation on Tuesday (10) in the Supreme Court (STF), as part of the investigation that investigates an alleged attempt to coup after the 2022 elections.
According to lawyer Demosthenes Torres, Garnier is willing to answer the questions and does not intend to exercise the right to silence during the session, which will start at 9am on Tuesday.
As Garnier is a defendant in the process, he has the right to remain silent and not to produce evidence against himself, as the Federal Constitution guarantees.
Garnier will be the first to be heard at the audience. He will be questioned by the rapporteur of the action, Minister Alexandre de Moraes; by the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet; and by the defense lawyers of the other defendants.
First day of interrogation
The Supreme Court began on Monday (9) the interrogations of the defendants of the so-called “crucial core” of the criminal action that investigates an attempt to coup.
Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, was first to testify for being a whistleblower in the inquiry. In his statement, he confirmed to Minister Alexandre de Moraes the scammer intentions of Garnier by reporting a discomfort of the then Army Commander Freire Gomes with the then head of the Navy.
“General Freire Gomes had been very upset, because Admiral Garnier had made the Navy troops available to the president, but that he could only do something with the army’s support. So General Freire Gomes was upset that they transferred responsibility to him,” said the whistleblower.
The former ABIN director general, Alexandre Ramagem, was also heard on the second. He used the moment of interrogation as an opportunity for defense. He denied that Abin, under his management, sought fraud at the electronic ballot box. He also said that the agency was never used to monitor authorities.
According to the former director general, the Federal Police (PF) erroneously cited the Israeli geolocation system First Mile in a report to associate it with the alleged coup plan in the country.
Eight defendants
The first class of the STF reserved the five days of this week for the interrogations. In all, eight defendants will be heard:
- Mauro Cid, former Presidential Orders;
- Alexandre Ramagem, deputy and former Chief of Abin;
- Almir Garnier, former Navy Commander;
- Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice;
- Augusto Heleno, former Chief Minister of GSI;
- Jair Bolsonaro, former President of the Republic;
- Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former Minister of Defense;
- and Walter Braga Netto, former Defense Minister and Bolsonaro’s deputy in the 2022 election.
