Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) revoked the preventive detention of Filipe Martins, former advisor for international affairs to Jair Bolsonaro. Martins was arrested on February 8, suspected of participating in an attempted coup d’état. 
The information was released by the former advisor’s defense. The release had been requested by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which pointed out that there were no grounds for maintaining the arrest.
Martins was arrested as part of Operation Tempus Veritatis, launched by the Federal Police to investigate the existence of a criminal organization at the highest levels of the Bolsonaro government that was allegedly preparing for an attempted coup, with the aim of keeping the former president in power and preventing the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro himself is also under investigation.
Martins’ arrest had been ordered at the request of the Federal Police (PF), which pointed out an alleged trip by the former advisor to the United States together with Bolsonaro, in December 2022, in what would be a premeditated attempt to escape investigations. He would have remained outside the country for months, according to investigators.
When requesting Martins’ release, however, the PGR stated that investigators were unable to prove that he had left the country. On the contrary, the agency pointed out that the evidence, so far, “seems to indicate, with reasonable certainty, that the person under investigation remained in the national territory during the period in question.”
In a report, the Federal Police alleged that Martins was the mastermind behind a draft decree for a coup d’état, which he allegedly presented directly to Bolsonaro. Martins’ defense denies any involvement in an alleged coup scheme.
