Secrecy of plea bargain implicating Bolsonaro in coup plot is lifted
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday (Feb. 19) lifted the secrecy on Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s plea bargain testimony, which served as the basis for the investigation that led to the accusation against former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was charged Tuesday (18) by Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet with attempting a coup d’état, among other crimes. Another 33 people were also targeted.
In Wednesday’s ruling, Justice Moraes also set a 15-day deadline for the defenses to respond. Under the order, all the defendants are to be heard simultaneously, including Mauro Cid.
According to the accusation, the former president led a coup plot hatched in 2022, in the last months of his term, in a bid to stay in power after being defeated in that year’s presidential race.
One of the main allegations of the defenses is that they did not have access to the full text of Cid’s plea bargain. After lifting the secrecy after the charges, Moraes stated that the measure aims to “guarantee the adversarial process and a full defense.”
