Brazil’s Former Defense Minister Arrested and Charged with Meddling in Probe into Planned Military Coup
Rio de Janeiro (Reuters) – Walter Braga Netto, Brazil’s former Defense Minister, was arrested on Saturday and charged with meddling in a probe into a planned military coup he is accused of organizing and financing.
Federal police have implicated Netto, a retired four-star general, in a plot to overturn the 2022 election narrowly won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Netto also served as chief of staff to former President Jair Bolsonaro and was his running mate in the 2022 election.
According to investigators, Netto provided funds to those involved in the plot and even tried to meddle in the police probe by attempting to obtain details of depositions given by Mauro Cid, a Bolsonaro aide who is cooperating with police.
The arrest followed the discovery of new evidence linking Netto to a larger role in the alleged coup plot than previously thought. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the arrest, stated that investigators uncovered proof of Netto’s involvement in a meeting at his home where a plan was hatched to assassinate Lula and his vice president-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, shortly after the election.
Netto’s lawyers issued a statement denying any wrongdoing and claiming that they would prove their client did not interfere in the investigation.
In addition to the arrest, federal police served search warrants at Netto’s residence in Rio de Janeiro and the home of retired colonel Flavio Botelho Peregrino in Brasilia. Braga Netto will remain in army custody in Rio until further notice. According to a 1980 law, military officers can only be detained by police if they are caught in the course of a criminal act and must be returned to the military after the crime is registered.
