On Wednesday morning (27), Brazil’s Federal Police launched a new phase of Operation Lesa Pátria, which investigates those involved in the January 8 coup attack.
Three preventive arrest warrants and ten search and seizure warrants are being carried out in investigations in four states: São Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais and Goiás. Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes authorized the actions.
Up until now, two preventive arrest warrants have been carried out in São Paulo state. One of the targets of the investigation is Aildo Francisco Lima, also known as “Bahia”. He made a live stream on a social media platform during the invasion of the Supreme Court building, sitting in the chair used by Alexandre de Moraes.
Basília Batista was also arrested in São Paulo on Wednesday morning. She was also arrested on January 8 this year, but was released by the Federal Police.
The third target of today’s arrest warrants was Margarida Marinalva de Jesus Brito, a resident of the Federal District.
Among the suspects targeted by the search and seizure warrants, are Danilo Silva e Lima (Goiás state), Osmar Pacheco da Silva (Goiás state), Wanderley Zeferino da Silva (Goiás state), Luciene Ribeiro Cunha (Minas Gerais state) and Erli Antônio Fernandes (Minas Gerais state).
In a statement, the Federal Police said that the facts under investigation “are, in principle, crimes of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup attempt, qualified damage, criminal association, incitement to crime and destruction of goods, particularly protected property".
The Federal Police carries out Operation Lesa Pátria permanently and has so far recorded 81 arrest warrants, 287 search and seizure warrants, and 17 investigations opened.
Remember the case
On January 8, 2023, Brasília staged what became known as the January 8 incidents, a coup attempt. These events involved a series of violent acts of hooliganism, invasions and damage to public properties carried out by a group of extremist followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The stated goal of this group was to instigate a military coup against the democratically elected government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and replace it with Jair Bolsonaro.
At around 1 p.m., Brasília local time, about 4,000 radical Bolsonaro supporters left the Army Headquarters and marched towards the Three Powers Square where they clashed with the Military Police of the Federal District. Before 3 p.m., this group broke through the law enforcement security barriers and occupied the ramp and the roof of the National Congress Palace. Simultaneously, part of this group invaded and caused damages to Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Palace of the Supreme Court.
On Saturday morning, January 7, more than a hundred buses from different parts of Brazil – many of them provided free of charge by businesspeople – arrived in the city of Brasília, bringing supporters of the pro-Bolsonaro movement involved in the coup attempt.
Edited by: Nadini Lopes e Vivian Virissimo
