Charges brought against Brazil's former President Bolsonaro
Jair Bolsonaro was investigated for almost two years. Prosecutors are convinced that the right-wing ex-president was planning a coup.
The Brazilian Attorney General's Office has filed charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro . The politician, who ruled from 2019 to 2022, is accused of attempting a coup after his election defeat, the law enforcement agency announced on Tuesday evening (local time). The agency is thus following the recommendation of the Brazilian federal police, which had been investigating the right-wing ex-head of state for years. Bolsonaro denies the allegations against himself.
In addition to the former president, charges have been brought against 33 other people. The Supreme Court must examine the allegations. If it accepts them as the basis for a formal indictment, Bolsonaro will be put on trial.
Investigators are convinced that ex-military man Bolsonaro, in a criminal organization with allies , planned a coup in order to stay in power after his election defeat in October 2022 against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was later sworn in and is still in office today.
On January 8, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters who refused to recognize Lula's election victory stormed the Congress, government headquarters and Supreme Court in the capital Brasília, causing significant damage.
Parallels to the storming of the Capitol in Washington
The images of the riots went around the world and were reminiscent of the storming of the US Parliament in Washington by supporters of the then-defeated President Donald Trump, who did not want to accept his defeat against Joe Biden. Bolsonaro was nicknamed the "Tropical Trump" by critics because of his rhetoric and conduct in office.
The Brazilian police accuse a total of 40 people of complicity in the preparation of the coup, but in some cases there was apparently insufficient evidence or circumstantial evidence to bring charges.
According to investigators, groups were formed with a clear division of responsibilities - including one responsible for disinformation and attacks on the electoral system and another that was responsible for "inciting the military to stage a coup."
Former Defense Minister arrested as driving force
In addition to the former president, the former general and head of the Cabinet for Institutional Security under Bolsonaro, Augusto Heleno, as well as former Defense Minister Braga Netto and the former president of the Brazilian secret service, Alexandre Ramagem, are said to have been involved in the plot. They are accused of seeking to violently abolish the democratic constitutional state, planning a coup and forming a criminal organization.
Braga Netto was arrested in December on charges that police alleged he had obstructed investigators in gathering evidence. He was the driving force behind the planning of the coup and, as defence minister, played a key role in helping officers and commanders carry out the plan.
According to the Attorney General's Office, Bolsonaro also knew about the plan to assassinate Lula and agreed to it. In November, five members of the security forces were arrested for an alleged murder plot after the elections. The aim was to prevent the transfer of power to the left-wing politician Lula.
Bolsonaro's allies speak of "political persecution"
According to a report by the news portal "G1", Bolsonaro's defense reacted to the charges with "dismay and indignation". The former president had never collaborated with a movement that aimed to "undermine the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it," it said. Despite the almost two-year investigation, nothing was found that "in the slightest links him to the story constructed in the lawsuit."
Bolsonaro's son Flavio Bolsonaro also said that there was no evidence against his father. Parliamentarians allied with the ex-president also rejected the accusations against him and wrote in a statement of "political persecution", as the newspaper "Folha de São Paulo" reported. Bolsonaro was "always guided by respect for the constitution and the democratic rule of law", they said.
A whole series of proceedings are pending against Bolsonaro. The police also accuse him of illegally selling jewelry and luxury watches that he received as official gifts in Saudi Arabia during his time in office for his own personal gain. Bolsonaro has always denied this, too. Investigators also believe that he had vaccination certificates forged for himself, family members and employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
