Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reversed Tuesday his decision to place a member of his family clan at the head of the federal police, after the appointment was suspended by a judge of the Supreme Court.
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Alexandre Ramagem, director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN), was due to take office on Wednesday as Director General of the Federal Police, after the dismissal of his predecessor by the far-right president late last week.
By ousting Maurice Valeixo from the head of the federal police, who has vast powers of investigation, Jair Bolsonaro had created the controversy and caused the resounding resignation of the popular Minister of Justice Sergio Moro, who exercises supervision over the federal police.
The latter had accused the president of wanting to place the police "a person with whom he would have personal contact, whom he could call to obtain information on the investigations" under way.
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Mr. Ramagem is in particular a personal friend of Carlos Bolsonaro, one of the president's sons, who, according to media reports, is of interest to investigators for his alleged role in a vast campaign of false information on social networks that targeted, inter alia, several judges of the Supreme Court having thwarted the plans of the Head of State.
A "non-compliant" appointment
On Wednesday, Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, seized by the center-left opposition party PDT, thus considered that the appointment of Mr. Ramagem was "not in accordance with the constitutional principles of impartiality, moral character and of public interest ”, according to the text of the judgment to which AFP had access.
After this provisional suspension, it is now up to the Supreme Court to confirm or quash the decision of the judge de Moraes, within an unspecified period.
President Bolsonaro took note of Judge Moraes' judgment and canceled the appointment a few hours later, in an additional edition of the Official Journal. Alexandre Ramagem will therefore resume his post at the head of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency. But that doesn't mean he can't be reappointed in the future, should the Supreme Court overturn Justice Moraes' decision.
Asked Sunday by a user about his choice of Mr. Ramagem, Mr. Bolsonaro replied: "I knew Ramagem before I knew my sons. So it should be rejected for this reason? Whose friend should I choose? ”