Police indict former president in alleged 2022 coup attempt

SAO PAULO (AP):

Brazil’s federal police said Thursday they indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people on charges of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his electoral defeat in the 2022 elections.

The findings were to be delivered Thursday to Brazil’s Supreme Court to be referred to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will either agree with the charges and put the former president on trial or toss the investigation.

The former right-wing leader has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then.

Other investigations focus on his potential roles in smuggling diamond jewellery into Brazil without properly declaring them, and in directing a subordinate to falsify his and others’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either.

On Tuesday, the federal police arrested four military and a federal police officer accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections and allegedly kill Lula and other top officials.

Police said in a brief statement that the Supreme Court had agreed to reveal the names of all 37 people who were indicted “to avoid the dissemination of incorrect news.” The 700-page police document likely will take several days for the court to review, Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes said.

Dozens of former and current Bolsonaro aides also were indicted, including General Walter Braga Netto, who was his running mate in the 2022 campaign; former Army commander General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; Valdemar Costa Neto, the chairman of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party; and his veteran former adviser, General Augusto Heleno.

The investigation started last year. On Tuesday, four military men and one federal police agent were arrested as part of the same probe.

Other investigations focus on Bolosnaro’s potential roles in smuggling diamond jewellery into Brazil without properly declaring them, and in directing a subordinate to falsify his and others’ COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either.

The far-reaching investigations have weakened Bolsonaro’s status as a leader of Brazil’s right wing, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.

“Bolsonaro is already barred from running in the 2026 elections,” Melo told the The Associated Press.

“And if he is convicted he could also be jailed by then. To avoid being behind bars, he will have to convince Supreme Court justices that he has nothing to do with a plot that involves dozens of his aids. That’s a very tall order,” Melo said.