Brazilian authorities have indicted former president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s successor, after the 2022 presidential election. The investigation, which centers on events following Bolsonaro’s defeat in the election, has escalated with charges against former aides, politicians, and military personnel.
According to CNN Brasil, federal police have claimed that Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of the plan to block Lula’s government from assuming office. The report, which is said to be hundreds of pages long, has been sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court for review. The country’s attorney general will now determine whether the indictments will proceed, with a potential trial scheduled for next year.
In response to the indictment, Bolsonaro posted on social media, stating that he had not seen the charges and would wait for his lawyer to address the matter. Bolsonaro denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that he did not attempt to stay in power after losing the 2022 election.
Among the 37 individuals indicted are several former high-ranking officials from Bolsonaro’s government, including retired generals such as Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of Defense, and Augusto Heleno, former head of presidential security. Other key figures indicted include Bolsonaro’s former intelligence chief, Alexandre Ramagem, and Valdemar Costa-Neto, a former congressman and leader of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party. Anderson Torres, a former Minister of Justice, is also listed.
This comes just days after police arrested five individuals, including a former Bolsonaro adviser, for their alleged involvement in a coup plot. The plot reportedly included plans to assassinate Lula’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, using methods such as poison or explosives. The suspects also allegedly planned to create a new office to control Brazil’s government in the event of an institutional crisis.
In an event on Thursday, President Lula remarked on the plot, expressing his gratitude for surviving the assassination attempts, adding that the poisoning attempts on him and Alckmin were unsuccessful.
Bolsonaro, who has criticized the investigation, called the judicial process politically motivated. His son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, also downplayed the significance of the alleged plot, suggesting that the attempt did not constitute a crime.
The investigation into the coup plot and the subsequent indictments have raised tensions within Brazil, with the country still reeling from the aftermath of the January 8, 2023, riots in which Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília, rejecting the results of the 2022 election.