Top prosecutor urges Supreme Court to bring coup plotters to trial
Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet on Thursday (Mar. 13) sent a statement to the Supreme Court dismissing the defense arguments on alleged procedural irregularities and reinforcing the request for eight of the 34 people accused of coup d’état to face trial.
Gonet’s opinion comes after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case, gave the prosecution five days to comment on the defense presented by the accused.
As it now stands, the prosecution has expressed its view on the first group of the accused, which include former President Jair Bolsonaro; Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice; Alexandre Ramagem, former director of Brazil’s intelligence agency Abin; generals and former ministers Augusto Heleno, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Walter Braga Netto; lieutenant colonel and whistleblower Mauro Cid; and Admiral Almir Garnier.
In his report, Gonet states that, in accordance with the rules of procedure, he was not at this time rebutting issues concerning the merit of the case, but merely the nine preliminary points on alleged irregularities raised by the lawyers.
“This is a recommendation for the charges to be accepted,” the prosecutor-general wrote after rejecting each preliminary legal issue.
Whether or not the charges are accepted remains to be seen by the Supreme Court’s First Panel. In addition to Justice Moraes, Justices Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia, Luiz Fux, and Flávio Dino will have to consider whether there is sufficient evidence to open a criminal case and bring the accused to trial.
