Brazil Charges 39 People Over Pro-Bolsonaro Riots

01/19/2023

Brazil’s prosecutor-general has presented its first charges against some of the 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.

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 ($7.7 million) of their assets be frozen to help cover damages.

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.”

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