Brazilian Police Conduct Raids And Arrests Related To Riots January 8

The attack by supporters of Jair Bolsonaro to the Congress Building. (Wikimedia Commons/Agmencia Brasil/Marcelo Camargo)

JAKARTA - Brazilian police announced on Wednesday that they carried out raids and arrests related to the January 8 riot investigation in Brasilia, where supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings.

Police, according to a statement, carried out three arrest warrants, 10 search and confiscation warrants ordered by the Supreme Court in four states, Sao Paulo, Parana, Minas Gerais, and Goias.

The raids are the 17th stage of an operation launched in mid-January, to identify people who participated, funded or prompted unrest, where mobs stormed and searched Congress, Presidential Palace, and Supreme Court.

In January, far-right supporters Jair Bolsonaro stormed and damaged government buildings, a week after left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office, protesting his October election victory and calling for a military coup.

Police did not disclose the names of those targeted for the raid on Wednesday, but said they were being investigated for the crimes of "the removal of rule of law with violence, coup, unconditional destruction, criminal association, incitement to specific destruction of property."

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided to sentence the first three people to trial for the riots, and each was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years in prison.

Bolsonaro himself has faced an investigation by Congress surrounding the January 8 riots, as well as several police investigations overseen by the Supreme Court.

Last June, Brazil's top election court banned him from holding public office until 2030 due to his behavior during last year's election, when he summoned ambassadors of friendly countries, to make unsubstantiated claims regarding Brazil's electronic voting system.