(Brasilia) Brazilian justice opened an investigation on Thursday into former Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet, who was seen in a video calling for the death of President-elect Lula.
Posted yesterday at 11:18 p.m.
“Let’s fire this son of a bitch from Lula”, launched Nelson Piquet in the video circulating on social networks, where we see him taking part in one of the demonstrations contesting the victory of the left-wing leader. “Lula over there, in the cemetery”, adds the ex-pilot.
The federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Mr. Piquet’s remarks “stimulate the overthrow of the elected government, as well as the practice of violence against Lula da Silva”, who will occupy the presidency of Brazil for the third time from 1er January 2023.
“Piquet’s statements are not limited to mere expressions of opinion, but constitute a concrete form of incitement directed against the population”, put forward the prosecutors.
“He is a person of public notoriety and therefore should know that his statements can potentially affect thousands of people,” they added.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won the second round of the presidential election on Sunday against incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, of whom Nelson Piquet is a declared supporter, by a narrow margin (50.9% against 49.1%).
Since Sunday, thousands of supporters of the far-right head of state have blocked roads across the country to reject Lula’s victory, while others demonstrated outside military barracks, demanding an intervention from the government. army.
Nelson Piquet, three-time F1 world champion, must appear before the federal police to testify.
Earlier this year, the Brazilian was embroiled in another controversy when he used a racist term to refer to seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, remarks which earned him condemnation from F1 and pilots.