Brazil Probes Supreme Court Bomb Blasts As 'terrorist Act'

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published November 15, 2024 | 08:50 AM

Brasília, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2024) A failed bomb attack on Brazil's Supreme Court is being probed as a "terrorist act" with possible links to an insurrection last year against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the country's police chief said Thursday.

The attempted attack, which happened late Wednesday in the capital Brasilia, came as the country prepares to host leaders including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next Monday and Tuesday.

The man believed to be the sole perpetrator died in the attack when he set off a blast outside the Supreme Court. He was the only casualty.

His body lay on the ground overnight while a bomb squad worked to remove a suspected detonator, before taking away the body early Thursday.

Federal police director Andrei Passos Rodrigues told a Brasilia news conference that the dead man, identified as Francisco Wanderley Luiz, 59, allegedly planned the attack over a long period and had acted alone.

Nevertheless, Rodrigues warned that "this is not an isolated act" and "the extremists are active."

He said the attack could have been a "violent" attempt to overthrow "democratic rule of law."

The day after the attack, the Supreme Court building was surrounded by security fencing.

"Where did we lose the light of our affectionate, joyful and fraternal soul to the darkness of hatred, aggression and violence?" said Luis Roberto Barroso, president of the Brazilian Supreme Court, during a court session.

Luiz was a member of the far-right Liberal Party (PL) of former president Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters in January 2023 sought to violently take control of democratic institutions in Brasilia after Lula's return to power.