Brazil’s attorney general on Tuesday formally charged former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others over an alleged coup attempt after his 2022 election loss.
Bolsonaro, 69, and the other accused were hit with five charges over the alleged bid to prevent Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after a bitter election race.
Brazilian Attorney General Paulo Gonet Branco filed the charges at the Brazilian Supreme Court “based on manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of messages that reveal the scheme to disrupt the democratic order,” his office said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
“They describe, in detail, the conspiratorial plot set up and executed against democratic institutions,” the statement said.
One of the charges is for the crime of “armed criminal organization,” allegedly led by Bolsonaro and his vice-presidential candidate, Walter Braga Netto.
“Allied with other individuals, including civilians and military personnel, they attempted to prevent, in a coordinated manner, the result of the 2022 presidential elections from being fulfilled,” the statement said.
The prosecutors’ office based its decision on a federal police report of more than 800 pages, released last year after a two-year investigation that found Bolsonaro was “fully aware and actively participated” in the alleged plot to cling to power.
Bolsonaro has denied the accusations and said he was the victim of “persecution.”
“The attempted coup d’etat ... has become an empty accusation, which has absolutely no evidence against Bolsonaro,” Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro wrote on X.
Flavio Bolsonaro is Jair Bolsonaro’s son.
After the announcement of his indictment, Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team said they were “shocked” and “indignant,” adding in a statement that Jair Bolsonaro has “never” been linked to a “movement that aimed to deconstruct the democratic rule of law.”
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