Argentina’s courts have ordered the arrest of 61 Brazilians facing jail sentences for their involvement in the Brasilia riots last year.
In January 2023, supporters of Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in an attempted overthrow of the new left-wing government led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.
Hundreds of the rioters were arrested, charged and released on bail. Some were convicted and sentenced.
But others fled to Argentina to escape their sentences – particularly after far-right politician Javier Milei was elected president in December 2023.
Judge Daniel Rafecas said the warrants would apply to those who had “convictions with definite prison sentences,” Brazilian news outlet Globo reported.
In June this year, Brazilian authorities issued an extradition request to Argentina seeking help in extraditing more than 140 prosecuted rioters. But many in Brazil questioned whether the Milei government would agree. The Argentine president is a friend of Bolsonaro’s and has been a staunch critic of Lula.
However, in October, Argentina cancelled political asylum for people who have been convicted of crimes in their home country.
And on Friday, an Argentine Federal Court judge ruled that the arrest warrants should be issued, noting the request of Brazil’s supreme court.
Local media also reported that local police on Friday had arrested one fugitive in La Plata city, about 60km (37 miles) from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
It is unclear if the whereabouts of the other rioters are known.
The Brazilian government believes the January 2023 riots were part of a coup attempt orchestrated by Bolsonaro following his defeat in a tightly contested presidential election the previous October. He denies any involvement.
But in the weeks following the election, he made repeated claims on social media questioning the results of the vote and the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system.
Less than a week after Lula was inaugurated in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Congress building, the Supreme Court and Presidential Palace in Brasília.
The arrest warrants come just two days after another attack in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where a former political candidate committed a suicide bomb attack outside the Supreme Court.
Police have named the man as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, who stood unsuccessfully in council elections for Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.
