The Federal Police this Tuesday (23) executed search warrants against businessmen who, in a group of private messages, defended the idea of a coup d'état if former president Lula (PT) defeats Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential elections in October. In addition to the searches, Justice Alexandre de Moraes also authorized the businessmen to be heard by the Federal Police and the blocking of their respective social network accounts.
Among the targets are Luciano Hang, from Havan, José Isaac Peres, from the Multiplan shopping chain, Ivan Wrobel, from Construtora W3, José Koury, from Barra World Shopping, André Tissot, from Grupo Sierra, Meyer Nigri, from Tecnisa, Marco Aurélio Raymundo, from Mormaii, and Afrânio Barreira, from the Coco Bambu Group. The conversations between the businessmen were revealed by the Metrópoles website.
The searches were authorized by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, and are based on a request from the Federal Police, within the scope of the investigation of digital militias, which targets an alleged criminal organization responsible for the dissemination of fake news and attacks on institutions. Moraes also authorized the blocking of social network accounts and breaches of banking and telematics secrecy of the targets.
The warrants were executed by Federal Police agents in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Ceará. In one of the messages revealed by the portal, businessman José Koury says he prefers a coup d'état to the return of PT and that "nobody will stop doing business with Brazil" if the country becomes a dictatorship. André Tissot, from the Sierra group, in another post, said that "the coup should have happened in the first days of government." [In] 2019 we would have gained another ten more years", he said.
Translated by Cassy Dias