Brazilian Supreme Court considers trial for Bolsonaro over coup allegations

The first day of the trial has come to an end with the decision of five Brazilian Supreme Court justices who are considering whether former president Jair Bolsonaro will face charges of coup attempt after his election in 2022.

Attorney-general Paulo Gonet claimed on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was in charge of a plot to overthrow the government, including alleged plans to poison Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s presidential rival and murder Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Regardless of the results of the 2022 elections, Gonet told the five-member panel that Bolsonaro had used criminal means to try to stay in office.

A majority of the five justices must consent for a criminal trial to proceed. By Wednesday, they are anticipated to make a decision. Judges are taking the case into consideration, including De Moraes.

Gonet’s decision to charge Bolsonaro and 33 allies in court on February 18 results in the outcome of Tuesday’s hearing. According to Gonet, the defendants had a large body of evidence against them.

According to Gonet, “the criminal organization documented its project, and documents were discovered during the investigations that included manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets, and messages exchanges.”

Bolsonaro is accused of damaging government property and “attempted violent abolition of the democratic state of law.” In November, an 884-page report from federal police first indicted him.

The far-right Bolsonaro and his supporters have accused him of being a part of a sophisticated plot by their political rivals to obstruct him from running for president once more.

A panel of judges had already ruled in 2023 that Bolsonaro should not serve in public office until 2030 on the grounds that he had stoked opposition to the nation’s electoral system.

Bolsonaro has, however, denied engaging in illegal behavior. He is the subject of a number of investigations and inquiries, some involving his actions in the 2022 election and others involving allegations of money laundering and other crimes.

In a Monday podcast, Bolsonaro declared, “I am innocent. No doubt, they will kill me at the very least in 30 days. He didn’t specify what kind of threat he had.

Bolsonaro still expressed hope that the justice system would find him innocent when he spoke to reporters the following day at Brasilia’s airport.

“I’m fine. I always long for justice. The federal police made the accusations in a biased manner, but nothing is supported by them,” Bolsonaro said.

The 2022 elections’ lead-up and aftermath are the subject of the accusations. Bolsonaro spread false rumors that Brazil’s electronic voting system couldn’t be trusted even before the first vote was cast.

Bolsonaro, the current leader, and Lula, who lean left, had a difficult fight to win. However, Lula won the vote by a slim margin in a run-off on October 30, 2022, and received 50.9 percent of the vote.

Bolsonaro, however, refused to acknowledge defeat in public. Instead, he and his supporters filed a legal complaint to contest his loss, which was ultimately rejected due to lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, truckers swarm the streets, causing chaos for his supporters. In the days leading up to Lula’s inauguration, a bomb threat was allegedly discovered and attacked the police headquarters in Brasilia, the capital.

However, just days after Lula was sworn in, tensions reached their highest point on January 8, 2023.

Thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the Three Powers Plaza in Brasilia on that day, infiltrating buildings that housed the country’s Supreme Court, presidency, and Congress. Lula and Congress were both present at the time, and neither was it in session.

Since then, Bolsonaro and his allies have been accused of trying to “create a state of siege” that would allow the military to take control of Brazil.

Bolsonaro and Donald Trump, the president of the United States, have both been compared to each other without any evidence, just as they have done for a previous election defeat.

Trump lost that position in 2020 after being defeated by Democrat Joe Biden. After winning the 2024 race, Trump has since assumed office.

Bolsonaro’s supporters have expressed hope that Trump, who is currently in his second term, will use the US’s influence to persuade Brazil to abandon the case and open the door for Bolsonaro to seek another presidency.

Bolsonaro has a strong dislike for Brazil’s military dictatorship, which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

Source: Aljazeera