Prosecution calls for conviction of Bolsonaro and 7 others over coup
Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet has asked the Supreme Court to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven others from the first group of individuals charged in the coup plot case.
The statement was sent to Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case at the Supreme Court, on Monday (Jul. 14), and is part of the closing arguments, the last phase before the trial, which should take place in September this year.
In the 517-page document, the prosecutor argues that the onetime president and the other defendants should be convicted of the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, damage qualified by violence, and serious threat and deterioration of listed heritage. The maximum sentences for the crimes exceed 30 years in prison.
In addition to Bolsonaro, the text asks for the conviction of the following defendants:
- Walter Braga Netto, army general, former minister of defense and Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential running mate for the 2022 elections;
- General Augusto Heleno, former head of the Institutional Security Cabinet;
- Alexandre Ramagem, former director of Brazil’s intelligence agency ABIN;
- Anderson Torres, former minister of justice and former secretary of security for the Federal District;
- Almir Garnier, former Navy commander;
- Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, Army general and former minister of defense;
- Mauro Cid, whistleblower and former aide to Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro
In his statement, the prosecutor-general described the role of former president Jair Bolsonaro as the leader of the criminal organization and the “main facilitator and biggest beneficiary” of the efforts aimed at staging a coup d’état in Brazil in 2022.
In Gonet’s words, the former president availed himself of the state apparatus to operate a “persistent scheme” to undermine public institutions and the transition following the outcome of the presidential elections.
Bolsonaro, “with the support of high-ranking members of the government and strategic sectors of the Armed Forces,” the prosecutor stated, “systematically mobilized state agents, resources, and power, contrary to the public interest, to propagate untrue narratives, provoke social instability, and defend authoritarian measures.”
Next steps
After the statement was submitted, a 15-day period was given for the defense of Mauro Cid, a whistleblower in the investigation, to present his final arguments to the Supreme Court. Then it will be the defendants’ turn to make their arguments within the same time frame.
Once all the arguments have been received, the trial date will be set by the court’s first panel. Behind the scenes at the Supreme Court, the trial is expected to take place in September this year.
