CPMI wants to hear Silvinei Vasques after being arrested by the PF; opposition condemns operation

The arrest of the former general director of the Federal Highway Police (PRF), Silvinei Vasques, this Wednesday morning (9) by the Federal Police, could give a new direction to the work of the CPMI that investigates the acts of January 8, which led to the invasion and depredation of the headquarters of the Three Powers, in Brasília.

The commission’s rapporteur, senator Eliziane Gama (Cidadania-MA), will ask for the recall of the former agent who was the first heard by the parliamentarians, on June 20. At the time, Vasques denied that he had ordered police operations to be carried out in the Northeast region to interfere with voter traffic on the day of the second round of the 2022 presidential election.

He stated that a “false narrative” was created and that there was the lowest abstention rate in the region. However, Eliziane Gama claims that Vasques would have said “controversies” and “clear lies” that were later proven in the documents obtained after the breach of bank, tax, telephone and telematic secrecy, determined in July.

“We had confirmation and, at that moment, we even forwarded a representation about a fundamental point that was false testimony, lying. We already decided back there on his return to this committee. Today’s arrest is the confirmation of what we had already discussed ”, he said in an interview with GloboNews.

Shortly afterwards, at a press conference, the senator said that former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) may be summoned in the future to testify. However, it will depend on what the documents presented to the CPMI will indicate.

At least 500 road operations would have been carried out on November 30th. Also on the Sunday of the second round of the presidential election, Minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of blitzes carried out by the PRF and demanded explanations.

A day earlier, Vasques even published a post on a social network asking the then president for votes, but deleted it shortly afterwards.

On the other hand, federal deputy Evair de Mello (PP-ES), deputy leader of the opposition in the Chamber, criticized Vasques’ arrest and said that the operation was “disproportionate and unnecessary”.

“It’s yet another smokescreen to cover up all the truths that could emerge from January 8th. Minister Alexandre de Moraes himself, when he determines that police operations should not be carried out on the day of the second round, he naturally intervenes in the prerogative of the police and in the electoral process”, he said.

According to Mello, Silvinei Vasques will be available and will return to the CPMI if the call for a new deposition is approved by the parliamentarians. “This electoral fact is used so that all the real facts can appear here that, in fact, we already know that the investigations of the 8th are already in the kitchen of the Planalto Palace”.

“There is even an omission by Minister Flávio Dino [Justiça] to hand over the images. The GSI’s refusal to bring the information shows that the Planalto Palace is involved and, now, everything that is done to cover up these truths will naturally be done like this prison that is now unnecessary and disproportionate”, he added.

In addition to Silvinei Vasques, the former Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres, has also been heard by the CPMI. The testimony took place this Tuesday (8) and he denied that the PRF had carried out operations with the intention of interfering with the displacement of voters.

According to him, “there was no interference from the Ministry of Justice in the planning of the PRF and that the information received from the director-general was of a safe planning similar to the first round and that was carried out without alterations. Nobody stopped voting and the TSE itself recognized that. I had no attribution to veto the operational planning of any institution”, he said during the testimony.

Eliziane even asked for Silvinei’s arrest during the CPMI

In a lengthy deposition before the CPMI on January 20, Vasques refuted allegations that PRF police officers had been directed to make it difficult for voters to travel during polling day.

“Most of our police officers were voters of President Lula. There is no, it is not possible to commit this crime. There is no way to carry out an operation like this and involve 13,000 police without having a simple hallway conversation,” he told CPMI.

Vasques faces an investigation in the Rio de Janeiro court for allegedly asking for votes for Bolsonaro in past elections, he defended himself during his testimony. He emphasized that he never used his position to benefit the then president electorally, noting that photos of him with Bolsonaro were taken during his free time.

The former director also sought to exempt Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice and his superior at the PRF, from any responsibility for the alleged targeted operations. Vasques claimed that Torres was informed about operations in the Northeast, but denied having received specific instructions to harm PT voters.

Anderson Torres was also heard by the CPMI of the acts of January 8, this Tuesday (8), and also denied the PRF’s alleged interference in the second round of the 2022 presidential elections in Northeastern states.

Rapporteur Eliziane Gama even suggested the arrest of Vasques, but the president of the CPMI did not agree with the measure.

During his testimony, Vasques classified the use of operations to obstruct the electoral process as an “impossible crime” and denied any interference in the displacement of voters. He attributed operations in the Northeast region to the PRF structure in that area.

Silvinei Vasques was director general of the PRF between April 2021 and December 2022, when he was exonerated by Bolsonaro amid investigations for administrative impropriety.

He was accused by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) of making improper use of his position during the elections. According to the agency, he would have made public demonstrations in favor of Bolsonaro between August and October of last year with party-political content. The MPF stated that the intentional practice of administrative impropriety was configured and asked for Vasques to be removed.