Brazil’s Prosecutor General Calls for Investigation Into Anti-democracy Protest

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Federal Prosecutor General, Augusto Aras, petitioned the Supreme Court (STF), on Monday, April 20th, to open an inquiry to ascertain “theoretically criminal events involving the organization of protests against participatory democracy in Brazil”.

Aras does not specifically refer to President Jair Bolsonaro, who took part in a protest in Brasília on Sunday which called for military intervention, but justified the request to the STF by saying that the actions were committed “by several citizens, including federal deputies”.

It is up to the Supreme Court to investigate officeholders with special jurisdiction, such as federal deputies and cabinet ministers.

Bolsonaro’s presence at the demonstration, in which supporters called for the closure of the National Congress and the Supreme Court, had strong negative repercussions among politicians, Supreme Court justices and other government officials.

Bolsonaro is not the target of the inquiry because so far there is no indication of his involvement in organizing the actions. A source at the Office of the Prosecutor General said that the inquiry “is not targeted” at anyone but rather “an investigation to determine responsibility”.

The investigation refers to actions carried out throughout the country, on Sunday, in which participants called for the closure of democratic institutions, such as the National Congress and the STF. The investigation aims to determine a potential violation of the National Security Law (7.170/1983). Among the demonstrators’ demands was the re-edition of the AI-5, the institutional act in December 1968 that deepened the repression under the military regime in the country.

“The Brazilian state allows only one ideology, which is that of participatory democracy. Any attack on democracy violates the Constitution and the National Security Law,” said the Prosecutor General.

On Sunday, Aras had released a public note in which he reiterated the commitment of the Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office to protect “the legal order that upholds democracy, under the terms of the Federal Constitution”.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo