Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro echoes Trump, says coup plot trial is a ‘witch hunt'
'The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law,' Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a 517-page document released late Monday.
Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by a left-wing rival.
'All the accusations are false. I never violated democracy or the constitution,' Bolsonaro said on X hours before Gonet submitted his final report. The ex-president said that the trial was a 'witch hunt,' echoing a term used by President Trump when he came to his South American ally's defense last week.
The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, as well as causing aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.
The defense will present its case shortly. Then the panel of Supreme Court justices that opened a trial against the former leader will vote on whether to convict or acquit him. Experts expect that to happen later this year.
A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. A conviction on that and other charges could bring decades behind bars.
The former president has repeatedly denied the allegations and asserted that he's the target of political persecution.
A lawyer for Bolsonaro didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Trump imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro's trial. The U.S. president has hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in office in 2020. Last week, he compared the Brazilian's situation to his own.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump repeated the claim that the trial is a 'witch hunt.'
'Bolsonaro is not a dishonest man,' he said. 'Nobody is happy with what Brazil is doing because Bolsonaro was a respected president.' Trump added that Bolsonaro isn't a friend, but someone he knows.
Gonet formally charged Bolsonaro and 33 others in February in connection with an alleged coup days after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office.
Gonet said Bolsonaro's actions 'were not limited to a passive stance of resistance to defeat, but were a conscious effort to create an environment conducive to violence and a coup.' He added that 'the criminal organization documented almost all of the actions described in the indictment through recordings, handwritten notes, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of electronic messages.'
The prosecution is also seeking convictions for several close allies of Bolsonaro, including his running mate during the 2022 election and former defense minister, Walter Braga Netto, ex-Justice Minister Anderson Torres and his aide-de-camp Mauro Cid.
Brazil's Supreme Court president, Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, said that the U.S. 'sanctions' — a reference to Trump's tariffs — are based on 'an inaccurate understanding' of events.
'For those who didn't live through a dictatorship or don't remember one, it's worth remembering: There was a lack of freedom, torture, forced disappearances, the closure of Congress, and the persecution of judges. In today's Brazil, no one is persecuted,' Barroso said.
Bolsonaro, a former military officer who was known to express nostalgia for the country's past dictatorship, openly defied Brazil's judicial system during his 2019-22 term in office.
He has been banned by Brazil's top electoral court from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and for casting unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system.
Hughes writes for the Associated Press.
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