Brazil’s Bolsonaro Charged with Attempted Coup Over 2022 Election Loss
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been formally charged with attempting to stage a coup to overturn his 2022 election loss, the country’s Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet announced on Tuesday, as per Al Jazeera.
The indictment, filed with Brazil’s Supreme Court, also names 33 other individuals, including former ministers and a former navy chief, as co-conspirators.
The charges mark the first time Brazilian authorities have charged the far-right populist leader with a crime, representing a significant blow to Bolsonaro’s already slim hopes of a political comeback.
The indictment follows a two-year investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police into Bolsonaro’s role in leading an election-denying movement that culminated in the January 2023 riots in Brasilia. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress, and the Supreme Court, echoing the January 6th insurrection in Washington, D.C.
The police report, published in November, accused Bolsonaro and 36 others of planning the “violent overthrow of the democratic state.” Among those implicated are prominent figures from the Bolsonaro administration, including the head of his Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, former Defence Minister Walter Braga Netto, ex-national security adviser Augusto Heleno, and former Justice Minister Anderson Torres
Bolsonaro has consistently denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as a politically motivated witch-hunt orchestrated by his opponents.
While Bolsonaro is unlikely to be arrested before his trial, unless Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes deems him a flight risk, the charges significantly escalate the legal challenges he faces.
Bolsonaro has already been barred from running for president in 2026 following two previous court decisions that prohibit him from holding public office until 2030 due to his conduct after the 2022 election.
The investigation into the attempted coup is not the only legal threat facing Bolsonaro. In November, Brazilian police also accused five individuals of plotting to assassinate President Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin before they took office in December 2022. The police report indicated that many of those under investigation were military personnel with special forces training or close aides to Bolsonaro.
