Election 'correction' plan found at Brazil minister's home

A document found at the home of Brazil's former justice minister proposed emergency steps for the "correction" of October elections in which his then-boss, Jair Bolsonaro, lost the presidency.

Police investigators found the document at the home of ex-minister Anderson Torres, the subject of a Supreme Court arrest warrant for alleged "collusion" with pro-Bolsonaro rioters who sacked the capital Brasilia at the weekend.

Under the new government of Bolsonaro's leftist rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Torres served as security chief for the capital Brasilia, the target of Sunday's riots.

He has since been fired.

Published in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper late Thursday, the draft foresees a "state of defense" for the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

The aim, it said, was "the preservation and immediate restoration of the transparency and correction of the 2022 presidential electoral process."

The text also mentions the creation of an election "regulation commission" comprised of eight defense ministry officials and nine other individuals to take over the electoral oversight functions of the TSE.

The undated and unsigned draft bears Bolsonaro's name at the bottom.

The Federal Police declined to comment to AFP on the case pending ongoing investigations.

Torres, who has been in the United States since before the riots, said on Twitter that the document was "likely" part of a pile of other papers at his home that were destined to be destroyed.

He added the contents of the draft had been taken "out of context" to "feed false narratives" against him.

Thousands of so-called "bolsonaristas" invaded the presidency, Supreme Court and Congress in the capital on Sunday, breaking windows and furniture, destroying priceless works of art, and leaving graffiti messages calling for a military coup in their wake.

Torres and Bolsonaro have both denied any involvement.

Bolsonaro had for years sought to cast doubts on the reliability of Brazil's internationally-praised election system, and had suggested he would not accept a defeat in the October 30 runoff against Lula.

He never publically acknowledged Lula's victory, and left the country for the United States two days before his successor's inauguration.

Torres is expected back in the country shortly to face the charges against him.

© 2023 AFP