MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's PGR indicts Bolsonaro and 33 others for coup attempt

Bolsonaro carried out a “conspiratorial plot armed and executed against democratic institutions,” the prosecution argued

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was indicted Tuesday by Brazil's Attorney General's Office (PGR) alongside 33 other people before the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for the crimes of coup d'état, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, and criminal organization.

Other defendants include General Walter Braga Netto and Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp.

The prosecutor's charges are based on the Federal Police (PF) investigation that concluded in November last year that there was a coup plot to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term in office. The complaint will be heard by the STF's First Panel made up of case rapporteur, Alexandre de Moraes, and Justices Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia, and Luiz Fux. If a majority of the justices accept the complaint, the defendants will face criminal charges before the STF.

According to the Court's rules of procedure, it is up to the Court's two panels to hear criminal cases. As the rapporteur is a member of the First Chamber, the indictment will be heard by the chamber. The trial date has not yet been set. Considering the legal procedures, the case could be tried in the first half of 2025.

Attorney General Paulo Gonet stated that the former president and General Braga Netto, a former minister and Bolsonaro's running mate in the 2022 elections, played a leading role in carrying out a “conspiratorial plot armed and executed against democratic institutions.”

“The leaders of the organization were the President of the Republic himself and his vice-presidential candidate, General Braga Neto. Both of them accepted, encouraged, and carried out acts typified in criminal law as an attack against the legal asset of the existence and independence of the powers and the democratic rule of law,” Gonet said.

In his view, the indictment against Bolsonaro recounts the acts committed by a “structured criminal organization” to prevent the popular will demonstrated by the result of the 2022 elections, when Lula was elected president.

“The President of the Republic [Bolsonaro] adopted a growing tone of rupture with institutional normality in his repeated public pronouncements in which he was unhappy with decisions by higher courts and with the electronic electoral system in force. This escalation gained momentum when Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seen as the strongest contender in the 2022 election, became eligible due to the annulment of criminal convictions,” he added.

Gonet also underlined that the criminal group acted with violence and serious threats to prevent the functioning of the Powers of the Republic and to try to oust the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

According to the indictment, Bolsonaro had the help of allies, advisors, and generals to “trigger the criminal plan”, which would have occurred through the dissemination of disinformation against electronic ballot boxes, defiance of Supreme Court decisions, and encouragement of the coup plan, among other charges.

The full list of defendants is as follows: Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros, Alexandre Rodrigues Ramagem, Almir Garnier Santos, Anderson Gustavo Torres, Angelo Martins Denicoli, Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, Bernardo Romão Correa Netto, Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha, Cleverson Ney Magalhães, Estevam Cals Theophilo Gaspar de Oliveira, Fabrício Moreira de Bastos, Filipe Garcia Martins Pereira, Fernando de Sousa Oliveira, Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues, Guilherme Marques de Almeida, Hélio Ferreira Lima, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, Marcelo Araújo Bormevet, Marcelo Costa Câmara, Márcio Nunes de Resende Júnior, Mário Fernandes, Marília Ferreira de Alencar, Mauro César Barbosa Cid, Nilton Diniz Rodrigues, Paulo Renato de Oliveira Figueiredo Filho, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira De Oliveira, Rafael Martins de Oliveira, Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo, Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior, Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros, Silvinei Vasques, Walter Souza Braga Netto, and Wladimir Matos Soares. (Source: Agencia Brasil)