Outgoing Brazil minister Sergio Moro denies Bolsonaro's allegation

Brazil's Justice Minister Sergio Moro denied the allegations on April 24 on Twitter that he wanted to be nominated to the Supreme court seat before President Jair Bolsonaro suspended the nation’s federal police chief. Moro said that he resigned following Bolsonaro’s attempts to intervene in sensitive police investigations to secure political agendas after he fired police chief Mauricio Valeixo against Moro’s will. 

Earlier, Bolsonaro accused Moro, saying that he wanted to gain a position in the Supreme court and had tried using the dismissal of the police chief to his benefit while speaking at a press conference. Therefore, Moro, a crusader against corruption in Bolsonaro’s government, quit after the remarks. 

Bolsonaro defends his decision

Moro’s resignation plunged Brazil’s government into disarray as many ministers stood against Bolsonaro over his alleged actions that prompted Moro’s resignation, confirmed reports. Later in a televised address, Bolsonaro defended his decision in a 45 minutes speech which led to protests in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and other cities in Brazil as citizens took to their balconies and windows to bang pots and pans according to a news agency report. 

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Moro reportedly said that he had warned Bolsonaro about interference in matters of the federal police force and opposed his decision of removal of the police chief without a valid reason. 

 The minister said, “The president expressly told me more than once that he wanted someone with whom he has personal contact, someone he could call, get information from, get intelligence reports, whether from a director or a superintendent.” He further added, “It is really not the federal police’s role to provide that information. Investigations have to be preserved.” 

However, Brazil’s prosecutor general, Augusto Aras, reportedly made an appeal in the Supreme Court to probe Moro’s allegations against the presidency of the alleged “political agendas”, according to media reports. Bolsonaro, on the other hand, announced in the televised address to the nation that it was the president’s “right” to replace the federal police’s chief and he did not have to seek “approval”. “I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission,” Bolsonaro said. 

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(With AP Inputs)