Good morning! Today, we look at day one of the first January 8 trials. The political world wants to reduce electoral guardrails and transparency. The left-right divide in Brazil.
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Trial of January 8 riots begin: what happened on Day 1
The Brazilian Supreme Court on Wednesday began the first of hundreds (possibly thousands) of trials of far-right radicals who stormed and ransacked government buildings in Brasilia on January 8.
Context. The rioters were hardcore supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro whipped into a frenzy by far-right agitators, including Mr. Bolsonaro himself, to believe that the 2022 election was stolen. The riots happened one week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated as president.
Day 1. The first trial day brought interesting insights into the stance of multiple parties on what is described by many as the single biggest attack on democratic institutions since the return of democracy in the 1980s.
Kamikaze defense? The lawyer representing the first defendant, Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira, adopted a rather confrontational stance. He said...