Federal police began questioning far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro this morning about his role in the January 8 riots, a police source told AFP.

According to AFP, the former Brazilian president arrived at the federal police building in a car with tinted windows and did not make any statements.

In mid-April, a Supreme Court judge ordered the questioning of Bolsonaro, who was in Orlando, USA at the time. The former president denies any involvement in these riots.

On January 8, a week after Lula came to power, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the Presidential, Congress and Supreme Court buildings in Brasília, causing extensive property damage. About 1800 people were arrested.

On January 10, two days after the riots, a far-right politician posted a video questioning the results of the October elections.

Bolsonaro, president from 2019 to 2022, left Brazil on December 30, before his term expired, boycotting Lula’s January 1 swearing-in ceremony. He returned to the country at the end of March.

The far-right ex-president is also being investigated in other cases.

Authorities are investigating whether he broke the law by bringing into the country luxury jewelry worth at least three million euros, which he received from Saudi Arabia as a gift to his wife without declaring it.

At the same time, he is under investigation in five cases before the Supreme Court of Brazil, and he has lost his immunity. In addition to the investigation into his role in the January 8 riots, the remaining four cases involve crimes allegedly committed while he was president related to disinformation and fighting the pandemic.

The High Electoral Court is investigating at least 16 cases allegedly linked to Bolsonaro, who faces a suspension from political life of up to eight years, preventing him from running in the 2026 presidential election.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.