After almost two years of investigation, into the former president () and for an alleged coup attempt in 2022 to prevent the inauguration of (). Understand what is known so far about the case in five points.
1. Why were Bolsonaro and his allies indicted?
The Federal Police say that everyone involved committed three crimes: an attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, an attempted coup d’état and a criminal organization, the penalties for which range from 12 to 28 years in prison, disregarding the aggravating factors.
The report, which is confidential, divides those investigated into six groups: 1. disinformation and attacks on the electoral system; 2. incitement of military personnel to join the coup; 3. legal; 4. operational support for coup actions; 5. parallel intelligence; and 6. compliance with coercive measures.
According to the PF, the coup plot included plans for Lula, the vice-president () and the minister, who is the case’s rapporteur at the (Supreme Federal Court) and authorized the operation that arrested four military personnel and a federal police officer on Tuesday (19) .
2. Who are the main indictees?
- former president of the Republic, former deputy, former councilor of Rio de Janeiro and captain in the Army reserves. Suspected of being the main organizer of the coup plot to prevent the elected government from taking office.
- former Minister of Defense and Civil House, candidate for Bolsonaro’s vice-president in 2022 and retired general. The PF says that the plan to kill Lula, Alckmin and Moraes was discussed at their home.
- national president of PL and former federal deputy for São Paulo. According to the PF, it was up to him to “finance, publicize to the press and endorse the legal action that corroborated the actions of the network of ‘experts’ who subsidized ‘technical studies’ that would prove alleged fraud in the 2022 elections.”
- former chief minister of the (Institutional Security Office) and retired Army general. It would integrate the supposed “parallel intelligence nucleus”.
- former Minister of Defense, general and former Army commander. He acted to maintain the discourse that the 2022 election was rigged and would have participated in discussions about the coup draft.
- Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp and Army lieutenant colonel. He signed a plea bargain in which he gave details about Bolsonaro’s meetings with heads of the Armed Forces to discuss an alleged coup d’état.
- former director general of the (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), defeated candidate for Mayor of Rio and federal deputy for PL. He is suspected of having headed a parallel espionage scheme during the Bolsonaro administration.
- former Navy commander. The only military leader who would have agreed with the coup plan and made troops available to the former president, according to the PF.
3. How did the PF reach them?
The corporation said in a statement that the evidence was obtained “through various police investigations carried out over almost two years, based on breaches of telematic, telephone, banking, tax secrecy, award-winning collaboration, searches and seizures, among other measures duly authorized by the Judiciary.
The investigation made its main advances in February, when the , targeting Bolsonaro, his allies and the military. In March, the former commanders of the Army, General Freire Gomes, and the Air Force, Brigadier Baptista Júnior, confirmed that they were called by the former president to discuss the coup d’état.
The backdrop was the plea bargain of lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp, who signed a collaboration agreement in September 2023. The PF and contradictions in the military’s testimonies, but this Thursday Moraes interrogated him and his denunciation.
4. What are the next steps?
For now, Bolsonaro and the others indicted. Now, the (Attorney General’s Office), the highest body of the , must evaluate the evidence raised and decide whether to file a complaint, close the case or ask the PF for further investigations.
If the complaint is made, ministers need to judge whether to accept it. From then on, the accused become defendants and begin to respond to criminal proceedings. They are only considered guilty if there is a definitive decision or there is no longer any possibility of appeal.
If Bolsonaro were convicted under these conditions in 2025, for example, he would be ineligible until 2061, when he would be 105 years old. Today the former president cannot contest elections until 2030, according to a decision by the (Superior Electoral Court), by .
5. What does Bolsonaro say?
Bolsonaro: “Minister Alexandre de Moraes conducts the entire investigation, adjusts statements, arrests without complaint, carries out evidentiary fishing and has very creative advice. He does everything that the law does not say,” he said this Thursday.
The former president also stated that “he has to see what is in this indictment” and that he will wait for his lawyer to analyze the report. “This, obviously, goes to the Attorney General’s Office. That’s where the fight begins. I can’t expect anything from a team that uses creativity to denounce me,” he said.
Before the release of Bolsonaro’s indictment, Lula. “I’m a guy who has to be much more grateful now because I’m alive. The attempt to poison me and the [Geraldo] Alckmin didn’t work, we’re here,” he said in his first statement after Tuesday’s PF operation.
He added that it is necessary to build a country “without persecution, without encouraging hatred, without encouraging disagreement.” “I don’t want to poison anyone, I don’t even want to persecute anyone. What I want is that, when my term ends, we demoralize with numbers those who governed before us.”
