Lula da Silva visits the presidential palace-VIDEO-UPDATED-2

Lula da Silva visits the presidential palace-VIDEO -UPDATED-2
# 09 January 2023 09:13 (UTC +04:00)

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to punish supporters of the country's ex-leader, Jair Bolsonaro, after they stormed Congress, APA reports citing BBC.

Supporters of the ousted far-right leader also stormed the Supreme Court and surrounded the presidential palace.

But police regained control of the buildings in the capital Brasilia on Sunday evening after hours of clashes.

Arriving in the city, Lula toured the Supreme Court building to see the damage for himself.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino told local media that some 200 people had already been arrested.

The Governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, has been removed from his post for 90 days by the Supreme Court. Justice Alexandre de Moraes accused him of failing to prevent the riot and of being "painfully silent" in the face of the attack.

Pro-democracy rallies are being called by leftist leaders and groups across Brazil.

*** 07:08

At least 170 people were arrested after supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government offices, APA reports citing CNN Brasil.

Police said the authorities have taken control of three main government buildings -- the Supreme Court, the presidential palace, and Congressional buildings.

According to the police, the government buildings involved in Monday's breach have been cleared of protesters. Executive secretary of the Brazilian Justice Minister, Ricardo Cappelli, vowed to punish all those involved in breaching the government buildings.

"I'm in the field, walking on the streets and personally commanding the security forces, fulfilling the mission I received from the President of the Republic. Nobody will go unpunished. The democratic rule of law will not be walled up by criminals," CNN quoted Ricardo Cappelli as saying.

On Sunday, supporters of Bolsonaro breached security barriers and broke into Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and the Planalto Presidential Palace, CNN reported citing images shown in Brazilian media. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not in the building at the time.

However, a team of officials gathered for the newly-elected President was working inside the palace when the protesters entered the building.

The raid by Bolsonaro supporters comes after Brazil's Justice Minister Flavio Dino on Saturday authorised the country's armed forces to set up barriers and guard the congressional building due to the continued presence of Bolsonaro supporters, as per the news report.

The report said supporters of Bolsonaro have been camping out in Brasilia since Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took over as Brazilian President. Since Bolsonaro's defeat in the elections, thousands of his supporters have gathered at military barracks in Brazil, calling on the army to step in as they claim that the election was stolen.

Meanwhile, Minister-Chief of the Secretariat of Social Communication for Brazil's President Paulo Pimenta shared a video on Twitter giving a walking tour of his office after Bolsonaro supporters entered the Planalto palace. The video shows overturned furniture, destroyed computers and monitors and damaged artwork.

According to CNN, Paulo Pimenta in a video posted on Twitter said, "I'm in my office on the second floor of the Planalto Palace. As you can see everything was destroyed." He asserted that those involved in the act need to be treated as "criminals."

Paulo Pimenta further said, "This is a criminal thing that was done here, this is a revolting thing. Works of art ... Look what the vandals did here, the chaos the vandals made here. Destroyed works of art, the country's heritage," according to CNN. He stressed that it is "unbelievable what has been done in the Palace."

***02.08

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared a state of emergency in the country’s capital, Brasilia, by the end of the month due to the riots that broke out on Sunday, APA reports citing TASS.

***23.35

Supporters of Brazil's former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday invaded the Supreme Court, the Congress building and surrounded the presidential palace in Brasilia, according to television images, APA reports citing Reuters.

In an echo of the Jan. 6, 2021 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Several thousand protesters broke into the buildings and were seen on television smashing furniture inside the Supreme Court and the Congress. Local media estimated about 3,000 people were involved.

Many of the protestors dispute the result of the Oct. 30 election in which leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva beat Bolsonaro. The former president repeatedly questioned, without evidence, the credibility of the country's electronic voting system, and many of his hardcore supporters believe him.

Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida 48 hours before the end of his mandate.

Lula was in Sao Paulo for the weekend and on a trip to the interior of the state.

Lula's Workers Party asked the office of the top public prosecutor to order public security forces to act in containing the demonstrators.

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