Politics

Arrest of Bolsonaro ally signals judiciary is fighting back

Disgraced former congressman turned Bolsonaro ally, Roberto Jefferson was arrested as the Supreme Court eyes targets fake news rings

variant roberto jefferson democracy
Former Congressman Roberto Jefferson. Photo: Valter Campanato/ABr

The past two weeks have marked a dramatic change in how the Supreme Court chooses to deal with Brazil’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro. Justices have abandoned behind-the-scenes calls for moderation — which never lasted very long anyway — and have decided instead to use the weapons at their disposal to ensure Mr. Bolsonaro remains within the confines of the Constitution. Four separate criminal investigations have been opened against the president — and now one of his allies has been arrested for threats against the democratic order.

On Friday, federal marshals carried out a preventive arrest order against Roberto Jefferson, a disgraced former congressman who has done time for corruption in the past. Mr. Jefferson is also known for associating himself with any government willing to give him influence in exchange for congressional votes from members of his Brazilian Labor Party (PTB). 

The type of pretrial arrest Mr. Jefferson is under has no stipulated duration — its aim is to prevent people under investigation from continuing to commit crimes or tamper with evidence.

Mr. Jefferson — who in the 1990s bragged about being an anti-gun pioneer among conservatives — has become a caricature of what a Brazilian far-right militant should look like. In several of his recent posts, he appears firing heavy weapons and calling for a hunt against “communists, Marxists, hedonistic, immoral, or satanic people.” The Supreme Court ordered his accounts and posts to be removed by social...

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