Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office has charged former President Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others in connection with a failed coup attempt. In a statement to the Supreme Court, Attorney General Paulo Gonet explained that the 34 accused individuals promoted and carried out activities against the three branches of government and the democratic rule of law. Bolsonaro’s vice president, Walter Braga Netto, was also named as the leader of this criminal organization.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the allegations against the alleged coup plotters are based on manuscripts, digital files, calculations and exchanged messages.
“The evidence describes in detail the conspiratorial plot that was designed and executed against the democratic institutions” the statement read.
Charges were filed for five crimes: leading a armed criminal organization, attempting to forcibly abolish the democratic rule of law, coup, damage and threat to property and damage to the country’s cultural heritage.
During the nearly two-year investigation, investigators found that the planned coup began in 2021 with systematic public verbal attacks against the electronic voting system. The plan even contemplated the death of the elected president, vice president and the chief of the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro allegedly approved of this plan.
Now, the Supreme Court must review the allegations. If it accepts them as the basis for a formal indictment, Bolsonaro will face trial. The former president is already facing several other legal proceedings. The police accuse him of illegally selling luxury items, including a watch and a necklace, that he received as a gift in Saudi Arabia during his presidency. Additionally, it is alleged that he had his staff forge vaccination passports for himself, his family members and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2022, Bolsonaro lost the presidential election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The former president refused to publicly acknowledge his defeat, instead filing a complaint with the Supreme Electoral Court, which was later dismissed. On January 8, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters, who refused to accept Lula’s victory, stormed the Congress, the government seat and the Supreme Court in Brasília, causing significant damage.