Motorcycle courier Wellington Luiz Firmino, who was on the run in Argentina after being sentenced to 17 years in prison in Brazil for the attacks on the headquarters of the Three Powers on January 8, 2023, was arrested in Argentina, this Monday (19), when he tried to flee to Chile.
“My idea was to escape, try to go to another country, but with my name in Interpol, on my first visit to the police I was arrested”, expressed Firmino, 34, late this Monday afternoon, in a video published on his social networks.
From Sorocaba, in the interior of São Paulo, Firmino was arrested at the Jama border post, which connects the Argentine province of Jujuy with São Pedro do Atacama, in Chile.
He was one of 61 Brazilians wanted in Argentina after federal judge Daniel Rafecas issued arrest warrants against the fugitives requested for extradition by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court.
According to information obtained by CNN with Argentine authorities, when Firmino tried to cross the border, authorities from the Immigration department identified the existence of an alert for the capture request.
Firmino was then detained by the gendarmerie, one of Argentina’s federal security forces. Now, he will have to go through a hearing with Judge Rafecas, and can appeal if the magistrate orders his extradition.
On January 8 last year, he recorded a video from the terrace of the Congress tower showing the movements of the invaders entering the palaces and occupying Praça dos Três Poderes.
In June, he made a post on his social networks revealing that he requested asylum in Argentina “because of a crime that did not exist”.
In the video, he said that he had been in Argentina for two months, that he found work 10 days after arriving in the country and that he was earning 40 reais a day. He also stated that he had requested asylum in Argentina.
The arrest orders against January 8 fugitives were issued last week, after Moraes asked Argentina to extradite 63 people convicted of the attacks.
The majority of fugitives felt protected by Argentina’s refugee status, which prevents them from being returned to their country of origin while the National Refugee Commission (Conare) does not define whether or not they will receive asylum.
With arrest warrants issued by the Federal Court, however, fugitives can be extradited according to the judge’s determination. They can still appeal to the Argentine Supreme Court.
This content was originally published in Motoboy de Sorocaba who filmed 8/1 of the Congress tower is arrested in Argentina on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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