Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office has not yet decided whether to charge Bolsonaro for attempted coup d’état
Ap and Afp
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, November 27, 2024, p. 29
Sao Paulo. The Brazilian prosecutor’s office will decide whether to charge former president Jair Bolsonaro for the attempted coup d’état after receiving the police report that implicates the former far-right president in an alleged plan to prevent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming the presidency in 2022. A series Audio recordings from the end of that same year, which were leaked, showed that high-ranking members of the army were considering ways to pressure Bolsonaro to carry out the coup.
The former president was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the elections, concluded the Federal Police report released yesterday, once the Supreme Federal Court declassified it.
The evidence shows unequivocally that the then president Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organization that sought to carry out a coup d’étatwhich did not happen for reasons beyond his controlsays the report. He also had full knowledge of an alleged plan to kill leftist Lula after he defeated him in the elections.
“The word ‘coup’ was never in my dictionary,” Bolsonaro said last Monday before journalists, when defending himself against the accusations.
All the armed forces have to be involved, otherwise there is no riot. Nobody is going to carry out a coup with a reserve general and half a dozen officershe added.
According to the investigation, the coup plan aborted at the last moment due to lack of institutional support from the army’s high command.
In addition to Bolsonaro, the police recommended charging 36 people, including several soldiers and advisors close to the former far-right president.
Prosecutor Paulo Gonet will decide whether to prosecute the former president and the others investigated for the crimes indicated by the police, whether to archive the file or whether to request new proceedings.
Bolsonaro, 69, could be blamed for the crimes of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état and criminal organization.
