(Brasilia) A judge of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has decided to provisionally release 464 people suspected of having participated in the violent uprising in Brasilia, while 942 others will remain in detention, his office said on Friday.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes assessed 1,406 cases of people suspected of involvement in the invasion and ransacking of power centers in the capital, the STF said in a statement.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested since January 8, when thousands of supporters of far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, vandalizing furniture, priceless works of art and part of the infrastructure.
The assault came a week after left-wing icon Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came to power, winner of the presidential election last October.
In the days following the violence, the judiciary determined that special cases such as the elderly, pregnant women and mothers of young children would be released on humanitarian grounds before being heard.
Mr Moraes ordered the preventive detention of 942 people, arguing that there is evidence that the detainees participated in acts of “terrorism”, criminal association, the violent abolition of the rule of law and to a coup.
For the judge, the detainees could have committed “unlawful and extremely serious” acts, and the pre-trial detention, of an indefinite duration, is necessary to “guarantee public order and ensure the effectiveness of investigations”.
Mr. Moraes spoke out in favor of the provisional release of 464 other detainees, under certain conditions such as wearing an electronic bracelet and a ban on using social networks.
Concerning these cases, Mr. Moraes indicated that, although there are strong indications of responsibility and participation in crimes, in particular in the attempt to overthrow a legally constituted government, the evidence has not been collected until now. now.
The 1,459 hearings for the 1,406 cases were held between January 8 and 17, the court said.
Jair Bolsonaro, who traveled to the United States two days before the handover, is being investigated by Brazilian authorities who suspect him of being the instigator of the riots.
The former president, who has been the subject of 16 investigations for electoral irregularities, rejects these accusations.