Bolsonaro accused of encouraging encampments to justify intervention
Former President Jair Bolsonaro is accused of "deliberately" encouraging actions that could lead to an institutional breakdown, including the continued presence of camps set up by supporters outside various military headquarters. This claim is part of the complaint filed by Brazil´s Attorney General's Office against Bolsonaro and 33 others for attempting a coup d'état in 2022.
"The then-president consistently hoped for an event that would convince the Armed Forces to execute the coup. His collaborator [Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid] even stated that this was one reason why former President Jair Bolsonaro did not demobilize the people gathered in barracks," the document states, citing Cid's testimony to the Federal Police.
"Regarding this, the collaborator also recalls that the commanders of the three forces signed a statement allowing people to remain in front of military headquarters by order of then-President Jair Bolsonaro," the document details. According to the Attorney General's Office, former Minister and General Braga Netto also incited the movement at the barracks, maintaining direct contact with supporters of the former president.
According to the complaint, Mauro Cid references a video in which the general addresses demonstrators outside barracks, urging them to stay hopeful "because it wasn't over yet and something was going to happen." "The collaborator reaffirms that both then-President Jair Bolsonaro and General Braga Netto hoped for an event that would persuade the Armed Forces to carry out the coup, which is why they encouraged the continued mobilization," Cid stated.
Coup attempt
On Tuesday (Feb. 18), the Attorney General's Office indicted former president Jair Bolsonaro and 33 other people before the Supreme Court for the crimes of attempted coup d'état, violent subversion of democratic rule of law, and criminal conspiracy. The charges also involve other members of the military, including former Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Braga Netto and Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp.
In the document, Attorney General Paulo Gonet outlines the involvement of Bolsonaro and the other defendants, stating that the group used violence and serious threats to disrupt the functioning of the branches of government and attempt to overthrow President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration.
The complaint also states that Bolsonaro was aided by allies, advisors, and generals to "initiate the criminal plan," which allegedly involved attacks on electronic voting machines, defying Supreme Court decisions, and encouraging the coup, among other accusations.
