By authorizing Operation Countercoup, launched on Tuesday (19) by the Federal Police to arrest military police officers and a federal agent accused of planning the death of President Lula, vice Geraldo Alckmin and the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, the magistrate, who is also the case’s rapporteur, cited himself 44 times, reproducing mentions made to him in the investigation.
With this, Moraes is once again the center of a decision in which he acts as a judge and, at the same time, appears as an alleged victim. A similar case was revealed months ago by Folha de S.Paulowhich brought to light messages from the minister’s former advisors at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). According to the report, these conversations indicated that Moraes had acted outside the rite in the so-called “Fake News investigation”, adopting actions that, in a regular process, would be the responsibility of the Federal Police and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
The same publication revealed that Moraes used the TSE structure to gather information and produce reports against protesters who criticized his actions, in addition to toughening measures against X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk refused to moderate content that affected him.
In Operation Countercoup, Moraes cited his own name to justify the authorization of arrest warrants against suspects of planning the death of authorities and attempting a coup d’état in 2022, supposedly to prevent Lula from taking office.
In an excerpt from the petition that authorized the action, Moraes highlighted that the investigation identified “illegal operational actions carried out by military personnel with training in Special Forces (FE)”. The judge stated that such actions aimed to “enable the coup d’état” and prevent the inauguration of a legitimately elected government, in addition to restricting the free exercise of the Judiciary. He also mentioned that the group’s conduct included “monitoring Minister Alexandre de Moraes”.
Another excerpt reports interactions between Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, Mauro Cid, and one of those arrested in the operation. Moraes again reproduced mentions of his name: “The police representation points out that, with the deepening of the investigations, based on the Tempus Veritatis operation, it was possible to identify new elements of evidence that showed the planning, organization and execution of monitoring actions by Minister Alexandre de Moraes”.
By authorizing Operation Countercoup, launched on Tuesday (19) by the Federal Police to arrest military police officers and a federal agent accused of planning the death of President Lula, vice Geraldo Alckmin and the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, the magistrate, who is also the case’s rapporteur, cited himself more than 40 times, reproducing mentions made to him in the investigation.
With this, Moraes is once again the center of a decision in which he acts as a judge and, at the same time, appears as an alleged victim. A similar case was revealed months ago by Folha de S.Paulo, which brought to light messages from the minister’s former advisors at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). According to the report, these conversations indicated that Moraes had acted outside the rite in the so-called “Fake News investigation”, adopting actions that, in a regular process, would be the responsibility of the Federal Police and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR).
The same publication revealed that Moraes used the TSE structure to gather information and produce reports against protesters who criticized his actions, in addition to toughening measures against X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk refused to moderate content that affected him.
In Operation Countercoup, Moraes cited his own name to justify the authorization of arrest warrants against suspects of planning the death of authorities and attempting a coup d’état in 2022, supposedly to prevent Lula from taking office.
In an excerpt from the petition that authorized the action, Moraes highlighted that the investigation identified “illegal operational actions carried out by military personnel with training in Special Forces (FE)”. The judge stated that such actions aimed to “enable the coup d’état” and prevent the inauguration of a legitimately elected government, in addition to restricting the free exercise of the Judiciary. He also mentioned that the group’s conduct included “monitoring Minister Alexandre de Moraes”.
Another excerpt reports interactions between Jair Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, Mauro Cid, and one of those arrested in the operation. Moraes again reproduced mentions of his name: “The police representation points out that, with the deepening of the investigations, based on the Tempus Veritatis operation, it was possible to identify new elements of evidence that showed the planning, organization and execution of monitoring actions by Minister Alexandre de Moraes”.
Jurist criticizes Moraes’ performance
Jurist Fabrício Rebelo reacted to the case on X (formerly Twitter), stating that “if the hypothesis of a suspected crime involves murder, the alleged victim can never appear as a judge in the case”. He also ironized the complexity of the operation: “The incredible supposed planning would make the characters Pink and Brain jealous”, in reference to the 1990s cartoon. The rats, known for their absurd plans to dominate the world, constantly face comical and frustrating situations.
Rebelo also stated that operations such as Contragolpe reinforce the feeling that “Criminal Law is dead”. According to him, from the so-called “Democratic State of Law”, only the “State” would remain.
Bolsonaro’s allies criticize operation
Parliamentarians linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro criticized the operation, classifying it as an attempt to associate him with an alleged coup.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) declared that, although planning a murder is “disgusting”, it still does not constitute a crime in Brazil. He defended his bill to criminalize preparatory acts and classified the arrests as “anti-democratic” and without legal support.
Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) called the operation a “smokescreen” and stated that it was an attempt to divert the focus from the Lula government’s problems. Without naming names, she said that “they haven’t followed the law for a long time” and considered any attempt to link Bolsonaro to the case repugnant.
The former president’s lawyer, Fábio Wajngarten, accused the government of using the operation to stifle internal crises. He classified as “absolutely inconsequential” the speech by minister Paulo Pimenta, who suggested a link between the arrested group and the Bolsonarist nucleus.
Federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) joked: “Janja did so much nonsense that they had to come back with this coup d’état”.
