Brazilian president seethes after investigation alleges suspects met at his compound before politician’s murder

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Brazil’s far-right president has launched a seething pre-dawn assault on the “putrid” and “immoral” media after a report by the country’s top broadcaster embroiled Jair Bolsonaro in investigations into the most notorious political assassination in its recent history.

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Bolsonaro appeared on social media shortly before 4am on Wednesday morning from a hotel room in Saudi Arabia, which he is visiting as part of a tour of Asia and the Middle East.

“You rascals, you scumbags! This will not stick!” Bolsonaro fumed after the report on Marielle Franco’s 2018 murder.

“I shouldn’t lose it. I’m the president of the Republic. But I confess I am at the end of my tether,” Bolsonaro, visibly incandescent, shouts at one point in his 23-minute live broadcast.

Bolsonaro’s eruption came in response to a politically explosive investigative report by Jornal Nacional, Brazil’s answer to the Nine O’Clock News, on Tuesday night.

The report alleged the suspected killers of Marielle Franco – the leftist politician who was gunned down in March 2018 – had met at Bolsonaro’s seaside compound in Rio de Janeiro in the hours before her murder.

One of those men, Élcio Queiroz, reportedly gained entry to the compound at about 5.10pm by telling a security guard he was visiting Bolsonaro, the owner of house No 58.

Bolsonaro was, in fact, hundreds of miles away in Brasília on that day. But an unidentified person at his house – who the security guard identified as “Jair” – reportedly authorized Queiroz’s entry.

Instead of heading to Bolsonaro’s property, Queiroz reportedly went to another residence – No 66 – the home of Ronnie Lessa, a special forces police officer allegedly turned contract killer currently being held on suspicion of Franco’s murder.

Citing anonymous sources, Jornal Nacional claimed that minutes after Queiroz’s arrival, he and Lessa left the compound in the latter’s car and then changed vehicles nearby, before, it is alleged, proceeding to central Rio where Franco was later killed.

Bolsonaro reacted furiously to the story.

“It’s villainy what you are doing … to run a story like this on primetime TV,” Brazil’s president said in his broadcast, on several occasions appearing close to tears.

“For the love of God who do you think you are?” Bolsonaro continued, addressing journalists from the channel behind the report, TV Globo. “I know what you are: you’re scumbags! Rascals! You aren’t patriots. You don’t think about Brazil.”

On Wednesday Bolsonaro allies went on the offensive.

Gen Augusto Heleno, Bolsonaro’s hawkish institutional security chief, claimed the allegations were an attempt to destabilize Brazil “and stir violent protests like those taking place in other Latin American countries”.

“The Brazilian people will not allow them to achieve their poisonous goals,” Heleno tweeted.

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Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Frederick Wassef, told Globo its report was “a lie, a fraud and a farce” designed to hurt the president.

Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo branded the story “fake news” and the journalists behind it “bums”.

Silas Malafaia, an ultra-conservative televangelist, urged Bolsonaro to remain calm. “God is a an expert in turning chaos into blessings. This mischief will only make your stronger,” he tweeted.

But government opponents called for an urgent investigation and some political analysts foresaw choppy waters ahead for both Bolsonaro and Brazil.

Former environment minister Marina Silva demanded an inquiry into what she called “very serious allegations … so that not the slightest suspicion hangs over the occupant of the highest office in the republic”.

Jean-Paul Prates, a senator for the leftist Workers’ party (PT), said foreign investors would “shudder” as they watched Bolsonaro’s social media rant.

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“This could be a devastating blow for Bolsonaro,” said David Miranda, a leftist Rio congressman who was friends with Franco.

Marcelo Freixo, another leftist politician, said that while Brazil’s president was “playing the victim” serious questions needed answering about why a suspected hitman had apparently claimed he was visiting Bolsonaro’s house.

“It is not about accusing or investigating the president but about investigating whether someone who was in the president’s house was involved. It is an investigation not an accusation,” Freixo said.

Tuesday night’s report is not the first time Bolsonaro has been linked to Franco’s suspected killers.

In March, a photograph emerged showing a grinning Bolsonaro with his arm around Queiroz, who police believe was driving the car used to commit the crime.

Earlier this month another photograph surfaced showing Bolsonaro with Josinaldo Lucas Freitas, a martial arts instructor suspected of throwing the guns used in Franco’s murder into the sea.

Police have also confirmed that one of Bolsonaro’s sons had dated Lessa’s daughter.

Brazilian reports have painted Bolsonaro’s neighbour as a ruthless killer who lost his leg in a 2009 bomb attack and made a fortune as a member of a group of contract killers called the Escritório do Crime (the Crime Bureau).

Additional reporting by Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro