Heleno says the government is trying to heat up CPMI by targeting military personnel

General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, former chief minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet in the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro, told People’s Gazette that his summons to testify at the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) regarding the acts of January 8th is an attempt by the government to “heat up” the commission.

His testimony comes at a time when government parliamentarians are moving towards the end of the CPMI, trying to set aside the government’s omissions in relation to acts of vandalism and create a mistaken narrative of a coup d’état, blaming military personnel who supported Bolsonaro.

“I’m calm. I owe nothing, I didn’t do anything that could incriminate me. I think it’s an inefficient summons that won’t lead to anything,” said Heleno. He recalled that he had already given testimony at the CPI of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District and would have nothing more to add. The news of his call-up came this Friday (22). The testimony is scheduled to take place at the CPMI session next Tuesday (26).

“I have been at home since December 31, 2022 and I have nothing to hide,” he stated. The general also said that he does not intend to resort to habeas corpus to remain silent and will answer whatever is asked, as long as the questions are related to the context of the CPMI.

“I just won’t answer if they are questions about other subjects, as happened at the DF CPI where they asked me about the 1964 Revolution,” said the general.

Government parliamentarians have been trying for weeks to summon high-ranking military personnel linked to Bolsonaro to try to impose a mistaken narrative about an alleged coup plot led by the former president.

In addition to Heleno, the former minister and candidate for Bolsonaro’s vice-president, general Walter Souza Braga Netto, will also testify at the CPMI. The session that should hear him is scheduled for October 5th.

Government parliamentarians are also trying to summon former Navy commander Almir Garnier, who would have been mentioned in a plea bargain by Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp. According to reports by UOL and the newspaper O Globo, he would have been in favor of activating article 142 of the Constitution to reestablish institutional order in the country after the 2022 elections in a meeting involving Bolsonaro and other general officers.