Brazilian Supreme Court indicts first defendant for Jan. 8 raids

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY(AA) - The Brazilian Supreme Court sentenced a supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro to 17 years in prison Thursday for his involvement in the Jan. 8 raids on government buildings in Brasilia.

Aacio Lucio Costa Pereira, 51, is the first person indicted and sentenced for attacks that sought to reverse the election win of President Lula da Silva.

The court found Pereira guilty of five counts that included armed criminal association, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, an attempted coup, qualified damage using violence and serious threat and deterioration of listed property.

Agencia Brasil, the state's media outlet, reported that two of the court’s 11 justices, Andre Mendonca and Nunes Marques, voted against charging Pereira with attempted coup.

The last vote was by Rosa Weber, who lamented the events in January.

"It was a Sunday of devastation, the day of infamy, as I will always call it. A Sunday of devastation of the physical and cultural heritage of the Brazilian people, devastation caused by a mob that, with total disregard for public affairs, invaded these historic buildings in Praca dos Tres Poderes," said Weber.

Pereira is a former sanitation worker who was caught by Senate police breaking into Congress, He will have to spend 15 years and six months in prison and one year and six months on parole.

​​​​​​​He will also have to pay, jointly with other defendants, a fine of more than $6 million for damage to the Planalto Palace, Congress and the headquarters of the Federal Supreme Court.