An Argentine court has ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilians facing prison sentences in connection with riots in Brasilia last year.
In January 2023, supporters of former Brazilian far-right president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in an attempt to overthrow the new left-wing government led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.
Hundreds of rioters were arrested, charged and released on bail. Some have been convicted and sentenced.
But others have fled to Argentina to avoid sentences – especially after far-right politician Javier Milei was elected president in December 2023.
Judge Daniel Rafecas said the arrest warrant would apply to people with “term prison sentences”, Brazilian news agency Globo reported.
In June this year, Brazilian authorities issued an extradition request to Argentina seeking help in extraditing more than 140 indicted rioters. But many in Brazil question whether the Milei government will agree. The Argentine president is a friend of Bolsanaro and a strong critic of Lula.
However, in October, Argentina rescinded political asylum for people convicted of crimes in their home country.
And on Friday, an Argentine Federal Court judge ruled that an arrest warrant should be issued, heeding a request from Brazil’s supreme court.
Local media also reported that local police on Friday arrested a fugitive in the city of La Plata, about 60 km from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
It is unclear whether the whereabouts of the other rioters are known.
The Brazilian government believes that the January 2023 riots were part of a coup plot orchestrated by Bolsonaro following his defeat in a disputed presidential election the previous October. He denied any involvement.
But in the weeks after the election, he repeatedly made statements on social media questioning the results of the vote and the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Less than a week after Lula was inaugurated in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the National Assembly building, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace in Brasília.
The arrest warrant came just two days after another attack at Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia, where a former political candidate carried out a suicide bombing outside the Supreme Court.
Police identified the man as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, who lost a council election for Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.
