Brazil Supreme Court orders Jair Bolsonaro to stand trial over alleged coup plan
A panel of justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered former president Jair Bolsonaro to stand trial over an alleged attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat.
All five justices ruled in favour of accepting the charges levelled by prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet, who accused Bolsonaro and 33 others of attempting a coup that included a plan to poison his successor, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and kill a Supreme Court judge.
The justices said seven close allies should also stand trial on five counts: attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage characterised by violence and a serious threat against the state’s assets, and deterioration of listed heritage.
The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says he is being politically persecuted.
Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. Combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars.
“Coups kill,” Justice Flavio Dino said when casting his vote. “It doesn’t matter if it happens today, the following month or a few years later.”
Mr Gonet on Tuesday said those facing the charges sought to maintain Bolsonaro in power “at all costs” in a multi-step scheme that accelerated after the far-right politician lost to the current president.
As in his February indictment, Mr Gonet said part of the plot included a plan to kill Mr Lula and Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who were put under surveillance by the alleged conspirators.
The plan did not go ahead because at the last minute the accused failed to get the army’s commander on board, Mr Gonet said.
“Frustration overwhelmed the members of the criminal organisation who, however, did not give up on the violent seizure of power, not even after the elected president of the republic was sworn in,” the prosecutor said.
That was a reference to the riot on January 8 2023 when Bolsonaro supporters stormed and trashed the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress in Brasilia a week after Mr Lula took office.
Justice de Moraes showed the panel a video clip with scenes from that day. “We had a very violent coup attempt,” he said. “A savage violence, in total incivility, with the request for military intervention in the coup d’etat.”
As well as Bolsonaro, the court will vote on accusations faced by his running mate during the 2022 election and former defence minister Walter Braga Netto, ex-justice minister Anderson Torres and his aide Mauro Cid, among others.
The court will decide on the fate of the others later.
Bolsonaro, a former military officer who was known to express nostalgia for the country’s 1964-85 dictatorship, openly defied Brazil’s judicial system during his 2019-22 term in office.
