Bolsonarists minimized the Federal Police investigation that indicated an attempted coup d’état and stated that the indictment of () is yet another element of the “persecution” suffered by the former president.
The defense of Bolsonaro’s allies does not cover all those indicted. The former minister of the Civil House of the last government, Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), said he was certain of the former boss’s innocence. Damares, former Minister of Human Rights, stated that, if others attempted crimes, let them pay, but excluded Bolsonaro from participating.
The leader of the opposition in the Senate and general secretary of the PL, Rogério Marinho (RN), stated on behalf of the party that the indictment of Bolsonaro and the party’s president, Valdemar Costa Neto, was already “expected”, given the “incessant persecution policy”.
Marinho said he hopes that the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) “can fulfill its institutional mission with serenity, independence and impartiality”, observing concrete evidence and not “mere conclusions”.
“We trust that the reestablishment of the truth will end a long sequence of political narratives devoid of factual support, with the reestablishment of institutional normality and the strengthening of our democracy.”
The Federal Police sent the investigation to the STF (Federal Supreme Court) and only released the names of the 37 indicted, with the court’s authorization, under the justification of avoiding the publication of incorrect information about the document.
The list also includes the former Minister of Defense and Civil House Braga Netto, vice-president on Bolsonaro’s defeated ticket, the former minister of the (Institutional Security Office) Augusto Heleno and the former director general of Abin (Brazilian Security Agency). Intelligence) Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ), now federal deputy.
The president of the PP and senator Ciro Nogueira (PI), former minister of Bolsonaro’s Civil House, said he was certain of Bolsonaro’s innocence: “There are things about which I am certain and one of them is Jair Bolsonaro’s innocence.”
The son of the former president and councilor of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Bolsonaro (PL), called the revelation of the assassination plan for President Lula (PL), vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and minister Alexandre “crazy” de Moraes, from the STF.
“Out of nowhere, another planning deduction for deaths appears again, as they have been trying to do for a long time. Obviously the objective of all this craziness is to raise awareness among some and put the blame they have been trying for years on others,” he said.
Senator Jorge Seif (PL-SC), in turn, Bolsonaro’s former Secretary of Fisheries, stated that the “persecution” demonstrates fear of the former president’s political leadership and indirectly mentioned the impeachment of STF ministers.
“Moraes and Lula need the most absurd narratives to prevent the impossible: that, in 2026, we will be the majority in the Senate. The game changes and, on all four lines, the purge will come,” he stated.
The opposition’s idea today is to move forward with the impeachment of ministers in the next legislature, when two-thirds of the Senate will be renewed. The group is also trying to pass a bill that provides amnesty for people involved in the January 8 riot.
Senator and former minister of the Bolsonaro government Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF) admitted the possibility of guilt of other defendants, saying that, “if anyone around Bolsonaro spoke or thought differently from him, let them answer for their actions”.
“But don’t try to attribute this to a Democrat like our eternal president,” he added, saying that an indictment is not a sentence and that Bolsonaro will have the right to full defense.
Federal deputy Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ) incorrectly stated that the press had already had access to the investigation, which is under secrecy. “And the interesting thing is that the parts that are relevant to the sensationalist narrative are leaked. There is no justice, there is justice,” he said.
Since the first information raised by the PF that pointed to an attempted coup in the hard core of the last government, Bolsonaro’s allies have tried to separate him from the depredation of Congress, the STF and the Planalto Palace in January 2023.
Testimonies and evidence that have become public point out, however, to the existence of decrees and operational plans to keep Bolsonaro in office after Lula’s victory.
