Argentinian police arrested on Thursday a man wanted over an attempted coup in Brazil last year in support of former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.

Joelton Gusmao de Oliveira, a 47-year-old Brazilian, was arrested in Argentina?s La Plata, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Buenos Aires, according to a police statement.

The police statement also said Brazil had previously issued a warrant for his ?arrest and detention? for extradition.

In February, a Brazilian court handed Gusmao de Oliveira a 17-year prison sentence in absentia for the attempted coup and armed criminal association.

Thousands of pro-Bolsonaro activists invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, on January 8, 2023, demanding the intervention of the armed forces to depose the newly elected left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazilian news site UOL said Gusmao de Oliveira was a refugee who was arrested while trying to renew his papers.

In October, the Argentine government amended the law preventing foreigners charged or convicted over ?serious crimes? from being granted refugee status. (AFP, excluding headline)

?PHOTO: Brazil?s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (L) talks with the new Argentine ambassador to Brazil, Guillermo Daniel Raimondi (not depicted), during a meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia on November 14, 2024. (Photo by EVARISTO SA / AFP)

Update news