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Top Brazil court greenlights probe of Bolsonaro for riot

Published:Friday | January 13, 2023 | 8:10 PM
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro looks on after speaking from his official residence the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2022. His absence on Inauguration Day will mark a break with tradition and remains unclear who, instead of him, will hand over the presidential sash to Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the presidential palace on January 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday authorised including former president Jair Bolsonaro in its investigation of who incited the January 8 riot in the nation's capital, as part of a broader crackdown to hold responsible parties to account.

According to the text of his ruling, Justice Alexandre de Moraes granted the request from the prosecutor-general's office, which cited a video Bolsonaro posted on Facebook two days after the riot.

The video claimed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wasn't voted into office, but rather was chosen by the Supreme Court and Brazil's electoral authority.

Prosecutors in the recently formed group to combat anti-democratic acts argued earlier Friday that, although Bolsonaro posted the video after the riot, its content was sufficient to justify investigating his conduct beforehand. Bolsonaro deleted it the morning after he first posted it.

Otherwise, Bolsonaro has refrained from commenting on the election since his October 30 defeat.

He repeatedly stoked doubt about the reliability of the electronic voting system in the run-up to the vote, filed a request afterward to annul millions of ballots cast using the machines and never conceded.

He has taken up residence in an Orlando suburb since leaving Brazil in late December and skipping the January 1 swearing-in of his leftist successor, and some Democratic lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to cancel his visa.

Following the justice's decision late Friday, neither Bolsonaro nor any of his three lawmaker sons issued a comment on social media.

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