By Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Ricardo Brito
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Police arrested Brazil’s former Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto on Saturday and charged him with meddling in a probe into a planned military coup he is accused of organizing and financing, the latest twist in a political saga that has rocked the country.
Federal police have implicated the retired four-star general in the plot to overturn the 2022 election narrowly won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The general also served as chief of staff to former President Jair Bolsonaro. Braga Netto was Bolsonaro’s running mate in the far-right leader’s failed reelection bid against Lula, as the leftist leader is universally known.
Braga Netto has denied any role in the alleged conspiracy.
His lawyers said in brief statement on Saturday that they will prove their client did not interfere in the investigation.
In November, federal police accused Braga Netto along with Bolsonaro, senior aides and former military commanders of plotting to bar Lula from taking office, including a scheme to kill him shortly after the election.
The arrest came after investigators uncovered evidence of a larger role for the retired general in the alleged coup plot than previously thought, according to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the arrest.
Beyond allegedly hosting a meeting in his house that set in motion a plan to assassinate Lula and his Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, federal police said Braga Netto provided funds to those involved in the plot.
Investigators say Braga Netto also tried to meddle in the police probe by attempting to get details of depositions by Mauro Cid, a Bolsonaro aide who is cooperating with police.
In a statement, federal police said it served two search warrants in connection with the arrest. The searches happened at Braga Netto’s residence in Rio de Janeiro and the home of retired colonel Flavio Botelho Peregrino in Brasilia, the army said in a statement.
Peregrino could not be reached immediately for comment.
Braga Netto will remain in army custody in Rio. Under a 1980 law, military officers can only be detained by police if they are caught in the course of a criminal act and must be surrendered to the military after the crime is registered.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Brad Haynes, Keith Weir and Mark, Franklin Paul and David Gregorio)
