Brazil prosecutor charges Bolsonaro over failed coup plot

BRASILIA: Brazil’s attorney general on Tuesday formally charged far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others over an alleged coup attempt after his 2022 election loss.

Bolsonaro, 69, and his co-accused were hit with five charges over the alleged bid to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after a bitter election race.

Attorney General Paulo Gonet Branco filed the charges at the Supreme Court “based on manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of messages that reveal the scheme to disrupt the democratic order,” his office said in a statement.

“They describe, in detail, the conspiratorial plot set up and executed against democratic institutions.”

One of the charges is for the crime of “armed criminal organization,” allegedly led by Bolsonaro and his vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto.

“Allied with other individuals, including civilians and military personnel, they attempted to prevent, in a coordinated manner, the result of the 2022 presidential elections from being fulfilled,” read the statement.

The prosecutor’s office based its decision on a federal police report of more than 800 pages, released last year after a two-year investigation which found Bolsonaro was “fully aware and actively participated” in the plot to cling to power.

Bolsonaro has denied the accusations and said he was the victim of “persecution.”

“The attempted coup d’etat… has become an empty accusation, which has absolutely no evidence against Bolsonaro,” his son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, wrote on X.

After the announcement of his indictment, Bolsonaro’s defense team said they were “shocked” and “indignant,” adding in a statement that Jair Bolsonaro has “never” been linked to a “movement that aimed to deconstruct the Democratic Rule of Law.”

‘The final attempt’

According to the statement from Branco’s office, the plot began in 2021, with “systematic attacks on the electronic voting system, through public statements and on the internet.”

During the second round of the presidential election in October 2022, security agencies were mobilized to “prevent voters from voting for the opposition candidate,” said the statement.

Those involved at this stage worked to facilitate “the acts of violence and vandalism on January 8, 2023,” when Bolsonaro supporters stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in the capital Brasilia.

The attorney general’s office said the criminal organization headed by Bolsonaro had pressured army chiefs “in favor of forceful actions in the political scene to prevent the elected president from taking office.”

Investigations also showed a plot to assassinate Lula, vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and a high-profile judge with “the approval of” Bolsonaro.

According to the statement, the January 8 riots by Bolsonaro supporters urging the military to intervene were “the final attempt.”

The Supreme Court will now weigh the charges and decide whether to initiate proceedings against Bolsonaro.

Hours before the charges were filed, Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia that he had “no concern” about the possibility of being indicted.

He was speaking at the Senate, where he has been pushing for an amnesty for his supporters who were imprisoned after the Brasilia riots.

The Supreme Court has convicted almost 400 people over the invasion of the seats of power.