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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to face trial over allegations of his involvement in an attempted coup directed against the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, following a decision from the nation’s Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s five-member panel has determined unanimously that there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the trial against Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, who is 70 years old, contends that he is being persecuted politically and vehemently denies any wrongdoing related to efforts to obstruct Lula’s inauguration. He has characterized the accusations against him as a strategy to impede his ability to run for the presidency in the 2026 election.
The trial may commence as early as this year. Should he be found guilty, the former president could face a significant prison sentence.
This panel’s role was to assess the evidence to establish whether a trial was warranted for Bolsonaro. Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who leads the panel, was the first to cast his vote, advocating for the trial to include Bolsonaro along with seven other former officials identified by the attorney-general as co-conspirators. These events are connected to the January 8, 2023, assault on government buildings conducted by Bolsonaro’s supporters, which occurred shortly after Lula took office.
The individuals listed as co-conspirators are:
- Alexandre Ramagem, former spy chief
- Adm Almir Garnier Santos, former navy commander
- Anderson Torres, former security minister
- Gen Augusto Heleno, former minister for institutional security
- Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former assistant
- Gen Walter Braga Netto, former defense minister
- Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former defense minister
During his presidency from January 2019 to December 2022, Bolsonaro, a former army captain and supporter of US President Donald Trump, narrowly lost the presidential runoff to his leftist opponent, Lula, in October 2022.
Bolsonaro has yet to acknowledge his electoral defeat publicly. Following the election, many of his supporters rallied around military barracks, urging the armed forces to intervene and prevent Lula’s inauguration scheduled for January 1, 2023.
On January 8, 2023, just a week after Lula’s inauguration, a large group of Bolsonaro’s supporters violently breached government buildings in Brasília, an act federal authorities deemed an attempted coup. The ensuing chaos led to significant damage within the government facilities, resulting in the arrest of approximately 1,500 individuals.
At the time of the riots, Bolsonaro was reportedly in the United States and has denied any direct connection to those who perpetrated the violence.
A federal investigation was launched to scrutinize the behavior surrounding the riots and the precipitating events. Investigators uncovered indications of a “criminal organization” acting in a cohesive manner with the intent of maintaining Bolsonaro’s hold on power.
An extensive report compiled by authorities, which was publicly released in November 2024, accused Bolsonaro of being complicit in planning and supporting the actions meant to instigate a coup and undermine Brazil’s democratic framework.
In a more recent report, Brazil’s Attorney-General, Paulo Gonet, claimed not only that Bolsonaro was aware of the allegations but asserted that he played a leading role in the alleged conspiracy to unseat Lula. The report included alarming claims of an intention to harm Lula and a Supreme Court justice involved in the investigation.
Bolsonaro continues to reject these claims as politically motivated narratives aimed at derailing his political ambitions. Presently, he is prohibited from holding public office until 2030 due to earlier allegations of fraud concerning Brazil’s electoral system, though he has expressed intentions to challenge this ban to pursue another presidential term in the upcoming 2026 elections.
The Supreme Court’s ruling this week poses significant obstacles to Bolsonaro’s political future and any potential bid for re-election.
Source
www.bbc.com