Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday was indicted for allegedly plotting a coup to overturn the country’s 2022 election results and take power from his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. File Photo by Sebastiao Moreira/EPA-EFE
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday was among 37 people indicted for allegedly attempting to coordinate a coup d’etat last year.
Brazilian Federal Police announced the indictments against Bolsonaro, two retired generals and 34 others for allegedly attempting a coup following Bolsonaro’s election loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, in 2022. Advertisement
Brazilian police say the coup attempt occurred on Jan. 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings and offices in Brasilia a week after Lula was sworn in as president.
Investigators said the coup failed because the leaders of Brazil’s army and air force refused to support it, the Madrid newspaper El Pais reported.
More than 200 of Bolsonaro’s supporters who directly participated in the alleged coup attempt were convicted and sentenced to prison, but none of them were involved in its planning.
Thursday’s indictments address the 37 suspects who police investigators say organized the insurrection, including Bolsonaro himself. The planners allegedly intended to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
A Bolsonaro supporter is suspected of detonating an explosive device outside the Brazil’s Supreme Court building last week. Advertisement
Bolsonaro is accused of having full knowledge of the planned coup to overturn the results of the presidential election. He was Brazil’s president from 2019 through 2022.
Brazilian police said they investigated the alleged coup for two years and analyzed communications, financial and tax documents, whistleblower statements, searches and seizures of evidence.
Bolsonaro’s former personal secretary Mauro Cid cooperated with police investigators and provided them with information about the alleged coup attempt and those involved in it.
Brazil’s Supreme Court must review the police indictment and evidence against Bolsonaro and his alleged co-conspirators.
The court earlier this year disqualified Bolsonaro from running for president against until 2030 after concluding he engaged in an abuse of power by using his position as president to undermine the nation’s system of voting.
If convicted of plotting a coup, Bolsonaro and other co-defendants could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
