The decision to plan in 2022 the assassination of the then-elected president, (), his vice-president, , and the minister (STF) was carried out on Thursday (14), one day after the attack in Praça dos Três Poderes in which a man blew himself up in front of the Federal Supreme Court headquarters.
Minister Moraes himself authorized three days later, on Sunday (17), the operation carried out this Tuesday (19). The PF carried out search and seizure warrants and the arrest of four military personnel and a federal police officer.
Also the day after the attack, both Moraes and the general director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, linked the episode to investigations involving the former president () and his allies.
Both said that the attack on the STF was not an isolated event and indicated relationships with other cases reported by Moraes related to attacks on institutions.
Last Wednesday (13), Francisco Wanderley Luiz exploded a bomb in his head after throwing two others towards the STF building. THE
The following day, the participants in the coup in .
“We cannot ignore what happened yesterday (13). What happened yesterday is not a fact isolated from the context. (…) but the context began way back when the ‘hate office’ began to distill hate speech against the institutions, against the STF, mainly against the autonomy of the Judiciary”, said Moraes.
Also on Wednesday night (13), shortly before the attack, a meeting led by President Lula, at the Palácio da Alvorada, brought together ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court) and the heads of the (Attorney General’s Office), and the Police Federal, Andrei Rodrigues. None of those present explained the reason for the meeting or the content of the conversation.
Reserve general Mario Fernandes, lieutenant colonels Hélio Ferreira Lima, Rafael Martins de Oliveira and Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo and federal police officer Wladimir Matos Soares were arrested this Tuesday.
According to the Federal Police, the four soldiers arrived on December 15 with the aim of arresting and killing the STF minister.
“The messages exchanged between the members of the ‘Copa 2022’ group demonstrate that those investigated were in the field, divided into specific locations to possibly carry out actions with the aim of arresting Minister Alexandre de Moraes”, says the PF complaint, cited in the minister’s decision.
The ‘Copa 2022’ group, on the Signal app, had the participation of the accused.
The Federal Police discovered the plan, called Punhal Verde Amarelo, on an external HD, a general who worked in the office of federal deputy and former Minister of Health Alexandre Pazuello (PL-RJ).
Reserve general, Fernandes had been one of the targets of search and seizure warrants carried out in Operation Veritatis, in February, which targeted Bolsonaro’s allies such as former ministers Walter Braga Netto, Augusto Heleno, Anderson Torres and the president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Neto.
Based on information collected from Veritatis, the PF was also able to confirm suspicions that, in an exchange of messages about the whereabouts of a “teacher”, Mauro Cid and Marcelo Câmara, Bolsonaro’s advisor, used a codename to refer to Moraes .
The objective, however, according to the PF, went beyond monitoring.
“The information revealed that the actions directed at Minister Alexandre de Moraes were not restricted to monitoring his itinerary during the month of December. In fact, the data obtained demonstrate that military personnel, in noticeable criminal integration, planned and executed a clandestine operation employing techniques typical of special forces agents,” the complaint states.
Lula defeated then-president Bolsonaro in 2022 after a fierce second-round dispute. During his term, the now ineligible Bolsonaro is currently the target of a PF investigation into his role in the plot that tried to prevent the elected president from taking office.
So far, the evidence of acts of a coup nature in 2022. The debate revolves around the question of which investigated conducts cease to be preparatory acts for a crime –not punishable– and become an attempt to commit it.
