Ex-President Bolsonaro to Testify on January Riots Following Brazil’s Supreme Court Order

A Supreme Court judge has ordered former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to face questioning by police within 10 days over allegations that he incited his supporters’ invasion of the presidential palace, the Congress and the high court on January 8.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that Bolsonaro had to answer questions over his role in the riots, during which his far-right supporters called for the ousting of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro lost last year’s elections to Lula.

Prosecutors had called for Bolsonaro to be investigated over a video he posted online two days after the attacks, in which he portrayed Lula’s election as illegitimate.

The riots have drawn comparisons with the January 6, 2021 events in Washington, D.C., when supporters of ex-President Donald Trump invaded the US Capitol building in a failed bid to overturn his election loss.