Brazil: MP Roberto Jefferson, ally of Jair Bolsonaro, was arrested for undermining democracy | They accuse him of slandering, slandering, insulting and apologizing for the crime

Former MP and Bolsonarist leader Roberto Jefferson was arrested on Friday by order of the Federal Supreme Court accused of participating in a network that promotes acts against democracy, like using social media -where he is shown carrying guns- to request the intervention of the army before the highest court or the expulsion of the Chinese ambassador.

Jefferson’s arrest, in politics since 1970, was authorized by the magistrate of the Supreme Court of Brazil Alexandre de Moraes, instructor of the investigation taking place in the highest jurisdiction of the country, following a request from the Federal Police (PF).

Moraes is leading a case on Bolsonarist campaigns against state powers and in which he was included by spreading lies about alleged electoral fraud President Jair Bolsonaro himself.

The charge relates to the financing of digital militias for the benefit of institutional collapse, a practice of the Brazilian extreme right identified with the government of former US President Donald Trump and the American extremist and segregationist Qanon movement.

The investigation

The investigation began in 2019 and was limited to disseminating fake news on the internet, but recently it has focused on the possible existence of those who have been described as “Undemocratic digital groups”, in its majority the extreme right which directs the governor.

In his decision, the Supreme Court judge ruled that it was “Demonstrated unequivocally in the procedure the strong indications of materiality and paternity” from the crimes of slander, libel, slander and excuses to the crime, among other crimes, of Jefferson.

Moraes pointed out that the politician even called for the closure of the Supreme Court and the suspension of all judges of the court to end the independence of the judiciary.

“The Federal Constitution does not allow the propagation of ideas contrary to the constitutional order and the rule of law, nor the holding of demonstrations on social networks seeking to break the rule of law (…) “, added Moraes.

Federal police arrested Jefferson, chairman of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), a historically center-right force that joined Bolsonarism to defend the carrying of arms, the dissemination of anti-Communist campaigns and requests for military intervention in the Federal Supreme Court.

Jefferson recently visited the Planalto Palace and was rented by the military wing, especially in the networks of retired General Luiz Ramos, Secretary General of the Presidency.

Mensalao scandal

Jefferson was a government ally of Fernando Collor de Mello, who resigned the presidency in 1992 due to corruption, and was later in the base of support for the Progressive Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The deputy arrested this Friday had sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption by the high court in the scandal known as Mensalao, which hit the government of former President Lula, of which he was an ally from 2003 to 2005.

The former MP was the Mensalao reporter, accusing Lula’s former chief of staff Jose dirceu to order a money distribution network for allied parties in Congress.

However, Jefferson later clarified that his accusation had to do with payment for election campaigns made by the PT and not by buying votes, although admitted to having kept four million reais of his own political force.

After serving his sentence, joins the government of Michel Temer and in 2018 he promoted his daughter Cristiane Brazil as Minister of Labor. The appointment, approved by Temer, was overturned by the Supreme Court because the politician’s daughter was accountable to justice for corruption and labor law violations with employees who worked for her.

The closure of their social networks

Morales ordered the closure of Twitter accounts in which Jefferson exposed videos with weapons threatening members of the tribunal: The latest was to threaten election judges for alleged fraud in the 2022 election, a flag Bolsonaro embraced.

In recent months, Jefferson posted gunshot videos threatening Chinese ambassador and calling for court closure, in a tropical version of the far-right Qanon movement which supports Trump in the United States and is responsible for the invasion of the Capitol in Washington.

Before your account is deleted by court order, Jeffereson had claimed that he was a victim of “communism”, that the Superior Federal Court acted “like Venezuela” and that he defended the motherland and the Brazilian family.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao blasted the court ruling, saying anyone who feels offended by Jefferson should sue him in court, but “ordering his arrest is complicated.”

Military intervention

The former deputy is one of the main defenders of a military intervention before the Supreme Federal Court, a slogan with which part of Bolsonarism generally takes to the streets. The High Court is investigating Bolsonaro in three cases opened this year.

The last one took place Thursday, by decision of Moraes, by which Bolsonaro is the subject of an investigation for having publicly disclosed a secret summary file on the action of a hacker against the electronic ballot boxes.

Another process is to allegedly lied and disclosed plots that violated the current electoral system and the first is to procrastinate in a corruption scandal involving intention to fraudulently purchase Covaxin vaccines from Ministry of Health intermediaries.