The 25 soldiers indicted by the Federal Police (PF) for participation after the 2022 presidential election should not be tried by the Armed Forces at this time.
The Army and Navy should not immediately open internal proceedings to punish the military. This should only occur if the common justice system — in this case, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) — convicts those involved.
If convictions occur, a Justification Council may be opened at the Superior Military Court (STM) to decide whether the accused will remain on active duty or lose their ranks.
Ranks serve as a hierarchical chain in the military and vary between soldiers and generals, and reserve officers can also be punished. The case would not be processed in the criminal sphere, but rather in the sphere of morals and honor, according to the Court.
The Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of four to eight years for anyone who commits the crime of attempting to violently abolish the Democratic Rule of Law and four to 12 years for those who attempt a coup d’état.
List
The list released by the PF includes Army generals and a Navy admiral. Some of those indicted have already spoken out regarding the indictment.
It is now up to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to decide whether or not to report the names listed to the STF.
See list of indicted soldiers:
1) Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros:
former candidate for state deputy for PL in Rio de Janeiro in 2022 and retired Army major. During the 2022 election campaign, Barros called himself “Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s 01”. He was arrested in the operation that investigated fraud on the former president’s vaccination card.
2) Alexandre Castilho Bittencourt:
He graduated in Military Sciences from the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras (Aman) and commanded the 6th Army Police Battalion until February 2022. The active colonel was one of the soldiers who signed a letter pressuring the Force commander in 2022 to carry out a coup d’état.
3) Almir Garnier:
squadron admiral who commanded the Navy during Bolsonaro’s government. He was one of the signatories of the note in defense of the camps in front of Army barracks after Bolsonaro’s defeat in the elections. He was mentioned in Mauro Cid’s plea bargain as being willing to participate in a coup d’état.
4) Anderson Lima de Moura:
Bachelor of Military Sciences from the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras and active colonel. Like Alexandre Castilho Bittencourt, he was also one of the authors of the “Letter to the Commander of the Army of Senior Active Officers of the Brazilian Army”, which called for a coup d’état.
5) Angelo Martins Denicoli:
Major in the Army Reserve. During the Bolsonaro government, he was appointed director of monitoring and evaluation of the Unified Health System (SUS), when he published false information about the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19. It was the target of operation Tempus Veritatis, which investigated an alleged coup attempt by Bolsonaro and his allies.
6) Augustus Helenus:
The 77-year-old retired general was minister of Jair Bolsonaro’s Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI). He was a captain in the Brazilian Army during the military dictatorship and publicly defended the 1964 coup. The group that organized a coup plot intended to create a “crisis management office” commanded by Heleno.
7) Clean Strap:
colonel arrested in the PF’s Tempus Veritatis operation. He is accused of being part of a group that encouraged military personnel to join a military intervention plan to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He obtained provisional release after testifying about an alleged coup d’état plan and collaborating with the investigation.
8) Carlos Giovani Delevati Pasini:
reserve colonel. He was also one of the soldiers responsible for the letter sent to the Army commander at the end of 2022 asking for a coup d’état.
9) Cleverson Ney:
Reserve colonel and former Land Operations Command officer. It was also the target of Operation Tempus Veritatis.
10) Estevam Theophilo:
general and former head of the Land Operations Command. He was also in charge of the Special Operations Command, known as “black kids”. The group was the target of a new PF operation for a coup plot that intended to kill President Lula, Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The general was the target of Operation Tempus Veritatis. He is suspected of offering troops to Bolsonaro in support of a coup d’état.
11) Fabrício Moreira de Bastos:
Bachelor of Military Sciences from the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras. He is a colonel and was an Army attaché in Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel.
12) Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues:
Army sub-lieutenant. He was the target of the PF operation that investigated the “parallel Abin” case. He is suspected of having monitored lawyer Roberto Bertholdo without judicial authorization. Bertholdo would be close to Rodrigo Maia and Joice Hasselmann, Bolsonaro’s opponents.
13) Guilherme Marques de Almeida:
the lieutenant colonel commanded the 1st Psychological Operations Battalion in Goiânia (GO). It was the target of Operation Tempus Veritatis. He became famous after collapsing and having to be rescued after Federal Police agents knocked on his door.
14) Hélio Ferreira Lima:
active Army lieutenant colonel. He was dismissed from his position as commander of the 3rd Special Forces Company, in Manaus, in February 2024, after being the target of a PF operation that investigated coup-based meetings between military personnel following Bolsonaro’s defeat in the election.
15) Jair Messias Bolsonaro:
former President of the Republic and Army reserve soldier, according to investigations by CNNthe former head of the Executive had “full knowledge” of the coup plot to kill President Lula, Vice President Alckmin and Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
16) Láertius Vergílio:
retired Army colonel, with the rank of brigadier general. He was one of the targets of the Federal Police’s “Tempus Veritatis” operation.
17) Marcelo Costa Câmara:
Army colonel. He held the position of special advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, in Jair Bolsonaro’s personal office.
18) Mário Fernandes:
He is a retired Army general. He was deputy head of the General Secretariat of the Presidency. He was preventively arrested on Tuesday (19), suspected of masterminding the death of President Lula, vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), and minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court. Until March of this year, Freire was assigned as an advisor to federal deputy Eduardo Pazuello (PL-RJ).
19) Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid:
He is a lieutenant colonel in the Army. He was former president Jair Bolsonaro’s aide-de-camp.
20) Nilton Diniz Rodrigues:
He is an Army general. He currently commands the 2nd Jungle Infantry Brigade, in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in the upper Rio Negro region. At the time of the alleged coup attempt, he was the commander of the 1st Special Forces Battalion and the Special Operations Command, military units located in Goiânia (GO).
21) Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira:
He is a reserve general. He commanded the Army and was Minister of Defense under Jair Bolsonaro.
22) Rafael Martins de Oliveira:
An active lieutenant colonel in the Army, he was known as “Joe” and was also part of the “black kids” group, after the 2022 elections. He is being investigated for asking for guidance on where to hold demonstrations after the victory by Lula..
23) Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Junior:
The Army lieutenant colonel is also accused of participating in discussions about the coup draft
24) Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros:
He is a lieutenant colonel in the Army. According to the PF, he was part of the ‘nucleus of disinformation and attacks on the electoral system’.
25) Walter Souza Braga Netto:
He is a retired Army general. He was Minister of Defense and head of the Civil House during the government of Jair Bolsonaro, for whom he was a candidate for vice president in the last elections.
