Brazilian defence minister: There was no direct military involvement in the riots

Brazilian President Lula has claimed that the Bolsonaro-supporting riots may have had assistance from within the government.

According to Jose Mucio, Brazil’s defence minister, the country’s armed services were not actively involved in the attack on the government building in Brasilia on January 8 that was carried out by Jair Bolsonaro’s backers.

Mucio’s proclamation came after the first meeting of its kind since the riots, which took place on Friday between President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the heads of the army, navy, and air force.

Mucio told reporters on Friday, “I hear that there was no direct military involvement, but if any element participated, they will have to account as citizens.”

He stated that because the armed forces would “predict it,” government buildings will not be stormed once more.

He made his statement as the administration vowed to punish anyone who encouraged or took part in the rioting.

Ibaneis Rocha, the governor of Brasilia, who was relieved of his duties shortly after the attack, is one of the individuals currently under investigation. In an investigation investigating his inability to prevent rioters from breaking into the government buildings in Brasilia, federal police searched his residence and place of employment on Friday.

Bolsonaro supporters rushed the Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential mansion during the attack in an effort to start a military intervention that they hoped would lead to Bolsonaro’s restoration to power.

READ ALSO: Bolsonaro’s backers invade the Brazilian Congress and the presidential palace

In an October run-off, Bolsonaro barely fell to Lula in his attempt for reelection.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, embraced anti-democratic sentiments in the months before the election. Some of his supporters demanded a military coup after his defeat. Vandalism was committed during the January 8 incident, which was roundly denounced as an assault on Brazilian democracy. It happened a week after Lula took the oath of office.

The public prosecutor has filed charges against at least 39 persons so far, and about 1,400 of those who were detained in connection with the riots are still in detention.

As federal police execute 24 warrants around the nation, identical raids have occurred in five additional Brazilian states in addition to the one that took place at Governor Rocha’s residence and workplace on Friday.

The federal police stated in a statement on Friday that they were looking for “material to assist the inquiry into the actions of public officials who may have failed in their duty to prevent the violent acts that day in Brasilia.”

Rocha was absent during the police raids on Friday and has denied any involvement in the attack on January 8. With reporters, his attorney, Cleber Lopes, adopted a belligerent demeanour.

“We are totally at ease; there is nothing to conceal. This raid is pointless and ineffective, according to Lopes.

The investigations into what he called “crimes against our country by coup-mongers and their sympathisers,” according to Minister of Justice Flavio Dino, have been praised.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES AND AL JAZEERA