Brasilia, Mar. 25 (EFE).- Brazil’s Attorney General, Paulo Gonet, accused former President Jair Bolsonaro of orchestrating and encouraging illegal actions to remain in power, during the first hearing to determine whether he will face trial for attempting a coup.
“The organization was led by the President of the Republic himself and his vice-presidential candidate, General Walter Braga Netto,” Gonet stated before the First Chamber of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), which is overseeing the case.
According to prosecutors, Bolsonaro and his allies devised a coordinated plan to prevent his departure from office after losing the 2022 election.
Gonet revealed that investigators discovered extensive plot documentation, including handwritten notes, digital files, spreadsheets, and messages detailing efforts to subvert the democratic order.
Among the evidence presented were draft documents outlining the coup plan and a speech Bolsonaro reportedly prepared to deliver after seizing power from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“The goal was to keep Jair Bolsonaro in power,” Gonet emphasized.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, provided an initial report outlining the charges against Bolsonaro and his co-defendants.
“All the accused, with a shared intent and division of tasks, significantly contributed to the criminal organization’s violent project to seize power, especially by maintaining the atmosphere of social instability that led to the harmful events,” Moraes stated.
Bolsonaro and seven other high-ranking military officials and former ministers from his istration (2019-2022) face charges including violent abolition of the democratic state, attempted coup, involvement in an armed criminal organization, and destruction of public property.
Prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro’s efforts to overturn the 2022 election results, which Lula won, culminated in the violent Jan. 8, 2023, attack on Brazil’s Supreme Court, Congress, and Presidential Palace by Bolsonaro ers, just days after Lula’s inauguration.
Bolsonaro’s defense before coup trial
Before appearing in court, Bolsonaro dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and maintained his innocence.
“We always expect justice. I am fine. These are baseless accusations made in a biased manner by the Federal Police,” Bolsonaro told reporters upon arriving at Brasilia’s airport.
He criticized the case being handled by a of justices rather than the full Supreme Court and questioned the presence of Justices Cristiano Zanin, a former lawyer for Lula, and Flavio Dino, Lula’s former Justice Minister, both of whom were appointed by the current president.
Bolsonaro arrived in Brasilia to attend three hearings scheduled through Wednesday, where he and his co-defendants will face allegations of plotting to remain in power after losing the election.
Prosecutors have linked Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and actions to the storming of government institutions on Jan. 8, arguing that he and his allies deliberately fostered unrest to justify extraordinary measures.
He will be facing trial for attempting to subvert Brazil’s democracy.
A deeply polarized Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, repeatedly cast doubt on the electoral system before the 2022 vote.
After losing to Lula da Silva, he refused to formally concede, fueling allegations of election fraud among his ers.
Tensions escalated when, on Jan. 8, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro loyalists stormed government buildings in Brasilia in a scene reminiscent of the United States Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The former president has since been banned from running for office until 20230 due to his attacks on democracy, facing multiple investigations, including this one.
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