SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the federal police Friday to take testimony from former President Jair Bolsonaro as part of the investigation itno the Jan. 8 attacks on government buildings in the capital.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave the federal police 10 days to question the former president, acting on a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters trashed the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and Congress one week into President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s third term in office.
The leftist Lula narrowly beat the far-right Bolsonaro in an October runoff election. Bolsonaro never explicitly conceded he lost the election and sought to sow doubt about Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Bolsonaro was in Florida during the attacks, but prosecutors want to know whether he encouraged his supporters to wreak havoc. Hundreds are in jail awaiting trial, but hundreds of others have been released.
The former president’s legal troubles have mounted since he left office, with other investigations still pending, including one regarding three sets of undeclared diamond jewels he received from Saudi Arabia during his time in office.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing in all cases.
