Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with leading a plot to overthrow the government and undermine the country's democracy after his 2022 election loss. The charges stem from a two-year investigation into the election-denying movement that culminated in riots by Bolsonaro supporters in early 2023.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was charged on Tuesday with leading a plot to overthrow the government and undermine the country's 40-year-old democracy after his 2022 election loss, complicating his narrow chances of a political comeback. The charges come after a two-year police investigation into the election-denying movement that culminated in riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital in early 2023, a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office.
Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet charged Bolsonaro and his running mate, General Walter Braga Netto, with leading a “criminal organization” that wanted to create a new order in the country, including plans to poison Lula. A total of 34 people were charged in the plot, including several military officials, such as Bolsonaro’s former national security adviser, retired General Augusto Heleno, and former navy commander Almir Garnier Santos, according to the charge sheet.“The responsibility for acts harmful to the democratic order falls upon a criminal organization led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, based on an authoritarian project of power,” the document stated. Lawyers representing Bolsonaro said in a Tuesday statement that he never supported any movement aimed at dismantling Brazil’s democratic rule of law or the institutions that uphold it. Analysts consider it unlikely Bolsonaro will be arrested before his trial, unless Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, deems him a flight risk. This indictment marks the first time Bolsonaro has been charged with a crime, though he has faced several legal challenges to his conduct as president since he lost his reelection bid. Two previous decisions by Brazil’s federal electoral court have already blocked him from running for president until 2030. Mr Bolsonaro’s lawyers have two weeks to respond to the charges before the supreme court decides whether it will accept the charges and potentially hold a dramatic, televised trial.“There’s a 99 per cent chance that the supreme court will accept the charges,” said Vera Chemim, a constitutional lawyer in Sao Paulo. “But to convict Bolsonaro, the supreme court will need robust evidence.” Mr Bolsonaro’s former running mate, General Braga Netto, was arrested two months ago after police accused him of interfering in the investigations. In a statement late Tuesday, his lawyers called the charges a “fantasy” that will not erase his “unblemished history” over four decades of service in the Brazilian army. – Reuter
BOLSONARO BRAZIL ELECTION DEMOCRACY RIOTS PLOT OVERTHROW CHARGES INVESTIGATION
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