MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil: STF reaches decisive 3-1 score to convict Bolsonaro and his allies

Justice Cármen Lúcia cast the decisive vote on Thursday afternoon

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) achieved on Thursday an unsurmountable 3-1 score to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven other defendants in the so-called “Coup d'état” case following the Jan. 8, 2023, riots at the headquarters of all three branches of Government in Brasilia.

The result was achieved after Justice Cármen Lúcia cast her vote, with panel Chairman Cristiano Zanin still to express his opinion.

In the two previous sessions, Alexandre De Moraes and Flávio Dino voted in favor of the conviction of all defendants. Luiz Fux acquitted Bolsonaro and five other allies and voted to convict Mauro Cid and General Walter Braga Netto for the crime of abolishing the rule of law.

The sentence has not yet been announced and will be determined only after the five justices have voted. According to Brazilian legal experts, sentences may vary and can reach 30 years in prison.

In her statement, Lúcia said that the trial of the coup plot harks back to Brazil's past, with its institutional ruptures. ”What's unprecedented about this criminal action is that it reflects the Brazil that pains me. This criminal action is almost a meeting of Brazil with its past, its present, and its future in the area of ​​public policies of state agencies,” she stated.

The judge also emphasized that Bolsonaro and the other defendants could not question the legitimacy of Law 14.197/21, the law that defined crimes against democracy and which was used by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) to support the accusation.

The measure was signed into law by Bolsonaro and defendants Anderson Torres, Braga Netto, and Augusto Heleno, former members of the government.

“Not only is [the law] legitimate, but it cannot be said that it was unknown that they attempted to undermine democracy. Four of the eight defendants are precisely the perpetrators, the ones who signed” it.

The judge also said that the coup acts were the result of a “set of events” against democracy. “January 8, 2023, was not a banal event, after a Sunday lunch, when people went for a walk,” she added.

The minister stated that there is “conclusive evidence” of the participation of former President Bolsonaro and the other defendants in a “criminal enterprise.”

“The prosecution presented conclusive evidence that the group led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, comprised of key figures from the government, the Armed Forces, and intelligence agencies, developed and implemented a progressive and systematic plan to attack democratic institutions with the aim of harming the legitimate alternation of power in the 2022 elections and undermining the exercise of the other branches of government, especially the Judiciary,” Lúcia also argued. (Source: Agencia Brasil)