Two Explosions Near Brazil's Supreme Court, One Reported Dead (X image @policiafederal)
Brasilia, Brazil: Brazil Federal police started investigation over a pair of explosions which shook the country’s capital Brasilia, just steps away from the Federal Supreme Court (STF). At least one person was reported dead. The court was evacuated as smokes and fire started coming up.
In a press release, the court said all the ministers were safely removed from the building. In a separate statement, the federal suggested that it had deployed a rapid intervention group, and a bomb control squad to the area, which is known as Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza. Police said the unit will be in charge of “carrying out initial security actions and analysing the site”.
“A police inquiry will be opened to investigate the attack,” the federal police added.
As per local media, the explosions took place near the Supreme Court and along a street near an annexe building, where a car was parked. Some witnesses reported that they saw smoke pouring from the car’s boot before the second explosion in front of the court.
The motive behind the bombing incident, and any suspect has not yet been identified.
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However, Celina Leao, the vice-governor of the Federal District, where the capital is located, said that at least one of the explosions coincided with an unknown individual approaching the doors of the Supreme Court. She indicated he was the same man reported dead in the explosion, said media report.
“A citizen approached the Supreme Court, where he tried to enter inside the building but couldn’t proceed. And then the explosion happened at the door,” Leao told the media in a press conference.
Following the incident, the head of the Supreme Court, Luis Roberto Barroso, held a telephone call with President Lula da Silva, the general director of the federal police and leaders in the Federal District’s government, according to the court’s press release.
Other government officials have voiced their concern and alarm to the press.
The Three Powers Plaza is the seat of Brazil’s federal government. The place contains the presidential palace, buildings for both chambers of Congress and the Supreme Court.
The Chamber of Deputies, which had been in session during the explosions, announced it would suspend its activities until security could be restored.
Brazil-based journalist Monica Yanakiew noted that the explosions happened days before a major international conference for the Group of 20 (G20) economic forum in the city of Rio de Janeiro later this month, said Al Jazeera.
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“It’s happening just a while before Brazil is about to host the G20 summit with 55 delegations from 40 different countries and 15 international organizations,” Yanakiew said. “People are worried about that because of the timing.”
She also pointed out that the architecture of the Three Powers Plaza makes it particularly vulnerable.
“In Brasilia, the geography has it that the Supreme Court, National Congress and the presidential palace, they’re all glass buildings, which are one next to the other. Any explosion there can be very damaging,” Al Jazeera quoted Yanakiew as saying.
This is not the first time the Three Powers Plaza has been at the receiving end of attacks. On January 8th last year, thousands of protesters descended on the square, ransacking the government buildings and clashing with law enforcement.
The riot was largely seen as an attack on democracy, as it came just days after the inauguration of President Lula. He called the incident as a “coup” and blamed his predecessor, the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, for spreading false claims of election interference before his defeat.
The Supreme Court itself were also target of backlash since it opened an investigation into Bolsonaro and his allies for their role in the 2023 riot.
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Last year, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Brazil’s highest electoral authority, barred Bolsonaro from holding public office until 2030 for abuses of power while president.
However, his supporters directed their anger at figures like Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who also was head of the Superior Electoral Court until June of this year.
De Moraes has spearheaded inquiries into the 2023 attack on the Three Powers Plaza and called for the suspension of the social media company X after it failed to comply with court orders. The suspension has since been lifted recently.
(With inputs from agencies)
