Bolsonaristas see Torres’ release as Moraes’ reaction to criticism – 05/12/2023 – Politics

Allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) celebrated the provisional release of former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres, granted on Thursday night (11), and evaluated the measure as a reaction by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF ( Federal Supreme Court), to the criticism it had been receiving about its handling of the cases related to January 8.

Torres had been in prison since January for alleged omission in the coup attacks. Former Justice Minister of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), he was Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District when vandals destroyed the headquarters of the three Powers in Brasília.

Torres’ defense insisted on his request for freedom on the grounds of his worsening mental state.

In a press conference this Friday (12), the former minister’s lawyer, Eumar Novacki, attributed freedom to the defense’s performance with dialogue, without confronting the Supreme Court, and to the ability to “sensitize the reporting minister [Moraes] that there was no longer a need for precautionary arrest”.

Novacki ruled out the possibility of a plea deal, but said Torres would cooperate with the investigations.

Despite the evaluation of Bolsonaro’s supporters, Moraes’ allies see no relationship between the release and the criticism directed at the minister; and recall that the magistrate argued in his decision that he was waiting for the completion of police steps to free Torres.

The former Minister of Justice was released just over a week after the Federal Police arrested Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who was Bolsonaro’s assistant, and ordered a search and seizure at the former president’s address.

The orders came from Moraes. The investigation, however, deals with suspected fraud in Bolsonaro’s vaccination card – and not with the coup acts of January 8. Mauro Cid, this week, changed lawyers, breaking with a defender close to the Bolsonaro family.

Moraes ordered precautionary measures for Torres. He will have to wear an electronic anklet and will not be able to leave the Federal District or go out at night and on weekends.

A Sheet bolsonaristas said they were surprised by Moraes’ decision, despite defending the release of the former minister from the beginning. There is also distrust surrounding the measure.

An interlocutor of the former president said that every decision by Moraes brings only momentary relief to Bolsonarism, because it is usually followed by an even tougher one. Therefore, Bolsonaro’s allies do not see any possibility of a “truce”.

They still have difficulty understanding when the decision is made and what may have motivated it. Therefore, the main hypothesis so far is that Moraes felt pressured by the criticism that he has been making excessively tough decisions and acting in a similar way to Lava Jato.

Those around the minister, however, do not see him as pressured in relation to Torres and points out that, even within the STF, his decisions have been followed by almost all other members —the exceptions tend to be Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça, appointed by Bolsonaro.

Such as Sheet showed, in the evaluation of lawyers Moraes has acted in a similar way to Lava Jato authorities to close the siege against the former president and his allies.

The PF operation against Bolsonaro for suspected vaccination card fraud reinforced this perspective.

On that date, three of the most faithful members of the president’s circle were arrested: in addition to Mauro Cid, Bope captain Max Guilherme and captain Sérgio Cordeiro. They are still detained.

A point repeated by lawyers heard is the fact that Moraes claims responsibility for processes related to Bolsonarists.

In their view, it circumvents the constitutional principle of the natural judge, which only allows the accumulation of actions with the same magistrate when there is a connection between the investigations and determines the rapporteurship draw in other situations.

In addition, a Bolsonaro ally in Congress is betting on a change of heart among congressmen. If before criticism of Moraes’ methods was restricted to the most radical Bolsonarists, now more moderate deputies also do so.

PT national vice president Washington Quaquá compared the operation against Bolsonaro to Lava Jato, which condemned and arrested former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and later had his methods questioned and actions annulled in court.

“I do not agree with the methods of Lava Jato and the police state, neither against Lula, (who was and is innocent) nor against Bolsonaro (who committed several crimes!), but everyone has the right to due process of law and the protection of their image before having your process carried over and judged! It does not contain with me to have a weight and two measures, “said the petista on Instagram.

Deputy Domingos Sávio (PL-MG), a PSDB member until recently, said in Congress this week that everyone condemns “illegal and criminal acts” on January 8, but harshly criticized Moraes.

“[Ele] He presides over the inquiry, accuses, puts himself in the right to judge, to order arrest, to order release, to silence whoever he wants to silence”, he said.

Among the more Bolsonarists, the repercussion was clearly positive from the release of Torres. On Twitter, Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) said: “Good news. Anderson Torres did not fit the hypothesis of preventive detention, he should never have been arrested, but still good news”.

Deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) said that the news is good, but in part. “Even if ‘justice’ is done, Anderson Torres should still have an electronic anklet, no use of his social networks and a canceled passport.”

This Friday, Moraes also decided in favor of another Bolsonaro ally, truck driver leader and federal deputy Zé Trovão (PL-SC).

The minister ordered the withdrawal of all precautionary measures imposed against the parliamentarian, such as the use of electronic anklets and the ban on using social networks. According to the magistrate, there was a cessation of the dissemination of illicit content from Trovão channels on Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.

Zé Trovão was investigated and arrested in 2021 for participating in the organization of anti-democratic acts during the festivities of September 7. The current congressman became a fugitive when he took refuge in Mexico.