Coup planned Charges brought against Brazil's ex-president Bolsonaro
The police investigated Jair Bolsonaro for almost two years. According to the prosecutors, the right-wing ex-president was planning a coup with allies. Will he now be put on trial?
19.02.2025, 04:26
19.02.2025, 04:59
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- The Brazilian Attorney General's Office has filed charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro.
- The politician, who ruled from 2019 to 2022, is accused of an attempted coup d'état after being voted out of office.
The Brazilian Attorney General's Office has filed charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro. The law enforcement agency announced on Tuesday evening (local time) that the politician, who ruled from 2019 to 2022, is accused of an attempted coup d'état following his ouster. The authority is thus following the recommendation of the Brazilian federal police, which had been investigating the right-wing former head of state for years. Bolsonaro rejects the accusations against him.
In addition to the former president, charges have been brought against 33 other people. The Supreme Court must examine the allegations. If it accepts them as the basis for a formal indictment, Bolsonaro will be put on trial.
Investigators are convinced that the ex-military man Bolsonaro planned a coup in a criminal organization with allies in order to stay in power after his election defeat in October 2022 against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was later sworn in and is still in office today. On 8 January 2023, Bolsonaro supporters who refused to recognize Lula's election victory stormed Congress, the seat of government and the Supreme Court in the capital Brasília, causing considerable damage.
Parallels to the Capitol storm in Washington
The images of the riots went around the world at the time and were reminiscent of the storming of the US parliament in Washington by supporters of then-elected President Donald Trump, who refused to accept his defeat against Joe Biden. Bolsonaro was nicknamed "Tropical Trump" by critics due to his rhetoric and conduct in office.
The Brazilian police have accused a total of 40 people of complicity in the coup preparations, but there was apparently not enough evidence or circumstantial evidence for some of them to be charged. According to the investigators, groups were formed with a clear division of tasks - including one for disinformation and attacks on the electoral system and another responsible for "inciting the military to stage a coup".
Ex-defense minister arrested as the driving force
In addition to the former president, the former general and head of the institutional security cabinet under Bolsonaro, Augusto Heleno, as well as former defense minister Braga Netto and the former president of the Brazilian secret service, Alexandre Ramagem, are also alleged to have been involved in the plot. They are accused of attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law, planning a coup d'état and forming a criminal organization.
Braga Netto was arrested in December because, according to the police, he obstructed investigators in collecting evidence. He is said to have been the driving force behind the planning of the coup d'état and to have provided significant support to officers and commanders as Minister of Defense in carrying out this plan.
According to the Attorney General's Office, Bolsonaro also knew about the plan to assassinate Lula and had approved it. In November, five members of the security forces were arrested for an alleged murder plot after the elections. The aim was to prevent the transfer of power to the left-wing politician Lula.
Bolsonaro's allies speak of "political persecution"
According to a report by the news portal "G1", Bolsonaro's defense reacted with "dismay and indignation" to the indictment. The ex-president had never collaborated with a movement aimed at "undermining the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it", it said. Despite an investigation lasting almost two years, nothing had been found that linked him "in the slightest to the story constructed in the complaint".
Bolsonaro's son Flavio Bolsonaro also said that there was no evidence against his father. Members of parliament allied with the ex-president also rejected the accusations against him and wrote in a statement of "political persecution", as the newspaper "Folha de São Paulo" reported. Bolsonaro had "always been guided by respect for the constitution and the democratic rule of law", it said.
A whole series of proceedings are underway against Bolsonaro. The police also accuse him of illegally selling jewelry and luxury watches, which he received as official gifts from Saudi Arabia during his time in office, to enrich himself. Bolsonaro has always denied this as well. According to investigators, he also had vaccination passports for himself, family members and employees forged during the coronavirus pandemic.