Brazil’s prosecutor-general has presented its first charges against thousands of people accused of storming government buildings in an effort to overturn the results of the October election, which former President Jair Bolsonaro lost. Brazil charges 39 people over pro-Bolsonaro riots.
The prosecutors in the recently formed group to combat anti-democratic acts also requested that the 39 defendants accused of ransacking Congress be imprisoned as a preventive measure, and that 40 million reais ($7.7m) of their assets be frozen to help cover damages.
The defendants have been charged with armed criminal association, violent attempt to subvert the democratic state of law, staging a coup, and damage to public property, the prosecutor general’s office said in a written statement. Their identities have not yet been released.
More than 1,000 people were arrested on the day of the January 8 riot, which bore strong similarities to the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Congress by mobs who wanted to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss in the November 2020 election.
Rioters who stormed through the Brazilian Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia, sought to have the armed forces intervene and overturn Bolsonaro’s loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The rioters “attempted, with the use of violence and serious threat, to abolish the democratic rule of law, preventing or restricting the exercise of constitutional powers”, according to an excerpt of charges included in a statement. “The ultimate objective of the attack … was the installation of an alternative government regime.”
The attackers were not charged with “terrorism” because under Brazilian law such a charge must involve xenophobia or prejudice based on race, ethnicity, or religion. Brazil charges 39 people over pro-Bolsonaro riots.
The prosecutor-general’s office sent its charges to the Supreme Court after the Senate’s president, Rodrigo Pacheco, last week provided a list of people accused of rampaging through Congress. Additional rioters are expected to be charged.
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