Bolsonaro tried to ‘incite insurrection', prosecutor tells Brazil top court

Al Jazeera

9 hours ago

Brazil's chief prosecutor has called for a guilty verdict in the case of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has denied accusations of leading an alleged coup plot.
'The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilisation of the democratic rule of law,' Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a 517-page document released late on 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 allegations. He said the trial was a 'witch hunt', echoing a term used by US President Donald Trump when he came to his South American ally's defence last week.
The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organisation, attempting to stage a coup and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.
The defence will present its case shortly. Then the panel of Supreme Court justices that opened a trial against the former president will vote on whether to convict or acquit him. Experts expect that to happen in the second half of the 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 is the target of political persecution.
Trump last week imposed a 50 percent import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro's trial. The US president has described Bolsonaro as a friend.
Trump said that Brazil 'is doing a terrible thing in their treatment' of Bolsonaro.
Gonet formally charged Bolsonaro and 33 others in February in connection with an alleged coup days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office.
The former president's supporters stormed and ransacked the National Congress and other state institutions in January 2023 to reject Lula's victory. After his defeat weeks earlier, Bolsonaro had declined to publicly concede his loss.
Police have accused Bolsonaro aides of attempting to disrupt the transfer of power to spark a military coup.
Before the election, Bolsonaro had suggested without evidence that the vote could be marred by fraud.
In his filing, 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 organisation 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, his former Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto; ex-Justice Minister Anderson Torres; and his aide-de-camp Mauro Cid.
Brazil's Supreme Court president, Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, said the US '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.
On Monday, senior US diplomat Darren Beattie accused the Brazilian government of 'attacks' on Bolsonaro and freedom of expression.
'Such attacks are a disgrace and fall well below the dignity of Brazil's democratic traditions,' Beattie said in a social media post. 'President Trump's statements are clear. We will be watching closely.'