Anderson Torres says in a hearing to the STF that he never contested the election result

In a custody hearing, the former Minister of Justice of the Bolsonaro government, Anderson Torres, said, after being arrested on January 14, that he never contested the victory of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

Torres was arrested after the depredation of the headquarters of the three Powers by Bolsonarists. He was, at the time, Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District and was traveling to the United States.

At the custody hearing, the prisoner is heard by a judge, who assesses whether there were any illegalities in prison. It was conducted by Judge Airton Vieira, an assistant in the office of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

Torres, at the time, said that he had always done his work professionally, that he was not affiliated with a party and had held a political position because of the result of his work.

“This accusation took me very much by surprise, the custody hearing is not the place to say anything about it, but I want to say that I have nothing to do with the facts, this was a cannon shot in my chest, I was on vacation , a vacation dreamed of by me and my family”, he said.

He was the first Minister of Justice to be arrested since redemocratization and the first member of the Bolsonaro government arrested as a result of anti-democratic acts.

At the hearing, Torres also stated that he arrived at the Ministry of Justice “at a delicate moment” in the relationship between the Powers and that, at the time, he visited all the ministers of the STF.

“I was in the United States and I had this news [da depredação], I had to come quickly after the news of my arrest and the search and seizure of my house, I bought a very expensive ticket, taken from my salary. I have no other income, and I need the opportunity to say this, to defend myself, to say that I did not cause the facts”, said the former minister.

“The way I left, what I left signed, I left it calm, because not even if a bomb had fallen in Brasília what happened would have happened”, he said.

“Sorry for the outburst, but being accused of terrorism, coup d’état?! For God’s sake, what’s going on?! I don’t know… This war that was created in the country, this confusion between the Powers, this ideological war, I don’t belong to that, I am a balanced citizen and I don’t owe this account”, he added.

Anderson Torres was appointed minister by Bolsonaro in March 2021, with the departure of the then holder of the portfolio, André Mendonça, who was later appointed to the STF. Previously, he was Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District.

The former minister had resumed command of the DF’s secretariat on January 2nd and traveled on vacation five days later. He was not in Brazil on the 8th, when Bolsonarists attacked the STF, Congress and Planalto Palace buildings.

The then secretary was dismissed from office by Ibaneis Rocha (MDB) on the same date, hours before the emedebista was removed from the Federal District government by order of the STF.

On the last 12th, the Sheet revealed that, during the search and seizure operation at Torres’ residence, the Federal Police found at Torres’ residence a draft (proposal) of a decree for then-president Bolsonaro to establish a state of defense at the headquarters of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

Alexandre de Moraes ordered the Federal Police to take Torres’ statement on February 2. The hearing will take place at 10:30 am.

In the decision released this Monday (23), Moraes said that the deadline will guarantee Torres’ defense the necessary time to analyze the file before the interrogation.

In another decision, the minister determined that a copy of the draft be sent to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to compose a lawsuit against Bolsonaro’s ticket in last year’s election on suspicion of abuse of political power in the presentation in which he repeated conspiracy theories to ambassadors.

The former secretary is being investigated in an inquiry that is being processed by the Supreme Court to determine responsibility for failures in local security that allowed the depredation of the headquarters of the three Powers on January 8.

In the first attempt to hear him, on Wednesday (18), Torres was silent. By order of Moraes, the former secretary is being held in a Military Police unit in the Federal District.

* With information from the Folha de São Paulo website

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