Jair Bolsonaro, former president of Brazil, was charged on Tuesday of overseeing the huge power scheme after losing the 2022 election, including one conspiracy to cancel the votes, the dissolution of the courts and the strengthening of the army, and the other for assassination of the President of Nation- .
The charges, set in the indictment on 272 pages, suggest that Brazil came incredibly close to returning to, in fact, a military dictatorship for almost four decades in his modern democracy.
Attorney General Paulo Gonet Branco accused Mr. Bolsonar and 33 more, including former Spy Chief, Minister of Defense and National Security Advisor, accusing them of a series of crimes against Brazilian democracy. The charges are basically adopted Recommendations of Brazilian Federal Police made in November.
The case will now pass before the Supreme Court of Brazil, who will decide whether to order the arrest of Mr. Bolsonar and make him face. If he is convicted, he could face 12 to 40 years in prison, according to the indictment, although political analysts expect any sentence to be shorter.
In a statement, Mr. Bolsonaro, 69, called the indictment a “justice of the judicial system” and compared himself with President Trump, a political ally who is often imitated.
The charges are “nothing but a desperate attempt to criminalize my political movement, silence millions of Brazilians and set the following elections before one voice,” said Mr. Bolsonaro, adding that he had peacefully handed over to power. “This is the same unsuccessful strategy used against President Trump.”
Chapters are the last chapter in the longtime saga for Brazil, which included Mr. Bolsonar discrediting state voice systems; tense elections in which Mr. Bolsonaro Never fully accepted defeat; an invasion of the halls of power by his supporters; and a high investigation that left her racing partner In prison since December.
Now the Brazilians could witness the trial of the Supreme Court in television who could eventually be sent to prison in the last eight years.
This would provide a striking contrast to the United States. Mr. Bolsonaro and Mr. Trump are now accused of charges of trying to cancel the elections. But Mr. Trump’s case was rejected when he returned to power, while Mr. Bolsonaro may be the weakest political point so far.
The Brazilian Election Court has already ruled that Mr. Bolsonaro cannot run in the presidential election next year. The Chief Lawyer separates two more criminal case against him. And the justice of the Supreme Court that was supposed to monitor this case is probably his political archive.
While the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Mr. Trump is largely immune to criminal prosecution for his actions as president, the Brazilian Supreme Court has seemed aggressively against Mr. Bolsonar and his right movement.
The court was monitored by investigations, ordered arrests and censored many supporters of Mr. Bolsonaro on social media, claiming that the anti -democratic action of his movement demanded an extraordinary response. Now 11 judges could decide on Mr. Bolsonar’s fate.
“In the Republic, everyone can be considered responsible,” Mr. Gonet Branco wrote in an introduction to 17 pages of the indictment attached. “The President of the Republic does not avoid this rule.”
The indictments described in detail the various actions that prosecutors say that Mr. Bolsonaro and the dozen of his allies – mostly current or former members of the army – have spent several months. First, they tried to undermine the public faith in the 2022 elections, and then, after Mr Bolsonaron, tried to undo the results, the indictment said. Several plots are also described in detail, which prosecutors say the group discussed and began to execute, but eventually abandoned.
One of these plots, according to the indictment, included the proclamation of the “siege state” – an emergency provision in the Constitution – which Mr. Bolsonaro would then order the arrest of the Supreme Court judge, donate new forces to the army and invite the new elections supervised by his allies. Investigators said they even discovered a draft speech that Mr. Bolsonaro would hold after announcing the download.
An An even darker plotProsecutors say, it included the poisoning of Luiz in anácio Lula da Silva, who in the 2022 election defeated Mr. Bolsonar, before he could sworn as president and fain to shoot Alexandre de Moraes, the justice of the Supreme Court supervised by Mr. Bolsonaro’s investigation the chief judge at his trial. According to the indictment, the assassination was supposed to be carried out by a small group of elite military agents, and men had already started following the Moraes Justice Movements.
The indictment also says the assassination plan was presented to Mr. Bolsonar. In WhatsApp a message on December 12, 2022, one conspiracy organizer told the other that Mr. Bolsonaro told him that they could conduct assassinations at any time before December 31, the indictment said. Mr. Lula was supposed to be open on January 1.
“I said,” Come on, the president. The sooner the better. We have already lost so many opportunities, “” Organizer, Mário Fernandes, is quoted in the message.
Mr. Fernandes denied allegations.
IN Interview last monthMr. Bolsonaro said he explored the idea of using a “siege state” so that Mr. Lula would take over because he was concerned that the elections were set. But he said he quickly gave up the idea when it became clear that Congress would have to approve the command.
He denied that he had any knowledge of the plot of the assassination, accusing him of Mr. Fernandes. “Even so, I think it was just another fantasy – courage,” he said.
“Everyone is responsible for their actions,” Mr. Bolsonaro added. “Although, as far as I know, he did not take any action.”
Brazil was ruled by military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. The murder of political opponents of the regime is the focus “I’m still here“Brazilian film that was nominated this year for the best picture at academic awards.
Mr. Bolsonaro, a former captain of the army, has long defended a military dictatorship, attributing to the saving of Brazil from communism. In an interview, he said last month that he would not see “I’m still here,” calling it left -wing transcript of history. “The story always has two sides,” he said.
Ju Faddul Contribution to reporting from São Paula, Brazil.
