Bolsonaro and 36 others charged could face trial in 2025
The Federal Police investigation that saw former president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others charged with coup d’état and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law will be sent to the Attorney General’s Office in the next few days.
This is the first step the investigation will take after it reaches the office of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur in the case.
It will be up to Brazil’s Attorney-General Paulo Gonet to decide in 15 days whether Bolsonaro and the others charged will be brought before the Supreme Court. Their defense will also have to make a statement.
Due to the court’s end-of-year break (Dec. 19 through Feb. 1), a trial could take place next year.
New accusations
On Thursday, Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, gave evidence to the Supreme Court about omissions and contradictions pointed out by the Federal Police in the hearing held Tuesday (19) as part of the federal operation Contragolpe (“Counter-Coup“), which arrested those allegedly involved in the plot to murder President Lula, vice-President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
After the testimony, Justice Moraes decided to uphold Cid’s plea bargain agreement and benefits. He stated that Mauro Cid had clarified the omissions and contradictions pointed out by the police.
At the police hearing, Mauro Cid denied having any knowledge of the coup plot to kill Lula, Alckmin, and Moraes.
However, according to the probe, one of the meetings with the plotters was held at the home of General Braga Netto, in Brasília, on November 12, 2022, and was attended by the former aide-de-camp.
Last year, Cid signed a plea bargain deal with the Federal Police and pledged to reveal the facts he knew about during Bolsonaro’s government, such as the case of Saudi jewelry sales, and fraud in the former president’s vaccination cards.
