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Winnipeg Free Press
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brazil's Bolsonaro used intelligence agency to spy on judges, lawmakers and journalists, police say
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's federal police accused former president Jair Bolsonaro and 35 others of involvement in a sprawling scheme that used the country's intelligence agency to spy on members of the judiciary, lawmakers and journalists. The seal on the 1,125-page document, which adds to the far-right leader's woes, was lifted by the country's Supreme Court on Wednesday. The federal police document said Bolsonaro was both aware of the scheme and its main beneficiary. Investigator Daniel Carvalho Brasil Nascimento, who chairs the probe, named one of the former president's sons, Rio de Janeiro councilor Carlos Bolsonaro, as a key plot member. The police investigation focuses on a so-called parallel structure in Brazil's intelligence agency. '(Bolsonaro and Carlos) were responsible for the definitions of the criminal organization's strategic guidelines, for choosing the targets of the clandestine actions (against opponents, institutions, the electoral system) so they would politically gain from these operations,' the federal police said. 'They are the decision center and the main recipients of illicit advantages.' Bolsonaro, who governed between 2019 and 2022 and is already barred by Brazil's electoral court from running in next year's elections, is standing on trial over allegations that he attempted a coup to stay in office despite his 2022 defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He denies any wrongdoing and claims he is being politically persecuted. One of the counts Bolsonaro will be sentenced on in the coup case is precisely on leading a criminal organization, which stopped federal police from requesting the same for the accusations revealed on Wednesday, as both investigations entwine. 'If he were accused again for the same facts, this would most likely come up against a prohibition called prohibition obis in idem, a Latin formula that means double punishment or double accusation for the same act,' said João Pedro Padua, a law professor at the Fluminense Federal University. The evidence revealed on Wednesday can still be used in the coup probe. Celso Vilardi, a lawyer for Bolsonaro, told the The Associated Press he was yet to analyze the federal police report and its accusations against his client. Brazil's federal police also accused Luiz Fernando Corrêa, the head of the country's intelligence agency under Lula, of undue interference in investigations. On Tuesday, staffers of the agency issued a statement to push for Corrêa's resignation. He did not respond a request for comment. Brazil's Supreme Court will hand the police investigation to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will decide whether the investigation will be taken to the Supreme Court for trial. Last year, police arrested five people in connection with the case, under the suspicion that the Brazilian intelligence agency was being misused. Court documents showed then several authorities were under illegal investigation, including former speakers Arthur Lira and Rodrigo Maia, Supreme Court justices, officials of Brazil's environmental agency Ibama, former Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria and prominent political journalists. ____ Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Brazilian Supreme Court panel orders ex-president Bolsonaro to stand trial over alleged coup plan
The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says he's being politically persecuted. A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'It seems that there is something personal against me,' Bolsonaro told journalists after the panel's decision. 'The accusation is very serious and [is] unfounded.' Advertisement Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. When combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars. 'Coups kill,' Justice Flávio Dino said when casting his vote. 'It doesn't matter if it happens today, the following month or a few years later.' Gonet on Tuesday said those facing charges sought to keep Bolsonaro in power 'at all costs,' in a multistep scheme that accelerated after the far-right politician lost to the current president. As in his February indictment, Gonet said part of the plot included a plan to kill Lula and Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who were put under surveillance by the alleged conspirators. The plan did not go ahead at the last minute because the accused failed to get the army's commander on board, Gonet said. 'Frustration overwhelmed the members of the criminal organization who, however, did not give up on the violent seizure of power, not even after the elected president of the republic was sworn in,' he said. That was a reference to the Jan. 8, 2023, riot when Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Supreme Court, presidential palace, and Congress in Brasilia a week after Lula took office. Advertisement De Moraes on Wednesday showed the panel a video with scenes from that day. 'We had a very violent coup attempt,' he said. 'A savage violence, in total incivility, with the request for military intervention in the coup d'état.' Bolsonaro on Wednesday denied any involvement and said he was in the United States at the time, having left a few days before the end of his term. 'One of the five charges against me is destruction of property. Only if it were by telepathy,' he told journalists. Bolsonaro's running mate during the 2022 election and former defense minister Walter Braga Netto, former justice minister Anderson Torres and his aide-de-camp Mauro Cid, among others, will also stand trial. The court will decide on the others' fate later. Observers had expected the charges to be accepted. 'The votes were not at all surprising,' said João Pedro Pádua, a law professor at the Fluminense Federal University. But he said they were historic. 'It is the first time a former head of state will be tried for the crimes of coup d'état and violent abolition of the democratic and legal state.' 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 2019-2022 term in office. He has sought to shore up political support before the possible trial, including with a protest in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month. Local media said around 18,000 people attended, based on figures from a monitoring project linked to the University of Sao Paulo. Bolsonaro's allies had hoped to draw 1 million people. Some analysts have said his ability to mobilize voters is diminishing. He has called for a new demonstration on April 6 in Sao Paulo. Advertisement The former president and his allies also will push for Congress to grant amnesty to those in jail for their roles in the Jan. 8, 2023, riot. Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo, said he didn't expect Wednesday's decision to have much impact on next year's presidential election. Bolsonaro has already been banned by Brazil's top electoral court from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and casting unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system. 'Bolsonaro will claim he's a candidate anyway. Why? To avoid being sidelined. He will claim it's him, or someone he appoints. He doesn't want to give up a political asset he has,' Melo said.
