Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) denied having participated in the alleged coup plot, for which he was indicted by the Federal Police, but admitted that he studied “all possible measures within the four lines” of the Constitution, such as the state of siege.
“O [Michel] Temer said something obvious: a coup d’état must have the participation of all the Armed Forces, otherwise it is not a coup d’état. Nobody carries out a coup d’état on a Sunday, in Brasília, with people who were there with Bibles under their arms and the Brazilian flag in their hands, not even using a slingshot and marbles, much less lipstick”, he said.
The former president gave an interview, on Monday night (25), upon arriving at Brasília Airport after spending holidays in São Miguel dos Milagres, on the coast of Alagoas. According to Bolsonaro, “no one is going to carry out a coup with a retired general and half a dozen officers”. In addition to him, 36 other people – including former ministers, allies and military personnel – were indicted by the PF.
“There was no commander… Let’s get that out of our heads. Nobody is going to stage a coup with a retired general and half a dozen officers, what they are saying is absurd. On my part, there was never any discussion of a coup,” he stated.
Possibility of arrest
During the press conference, Bolsonaro was asked if he feared being arrested after the new indictment, he stated that he could be detained at any time. “I could be arrested now when I leave here [do Aeroporto de Brasília]”, he pointed out.
The expectation is that the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes will send the PF report on the alleged coup plot to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) this Tuesday (26).
Lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno, who represents the former president, said he is “convinced” that the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, will be “cautious” when analyzing the case.
“The Attorney General of Justice is an extremely respected person. We are convinced that you will exercise extreme caution when analyzing the research. We hope that the Federal Public Ministry will have a participation that it was not able to have over time in this investigation”, stated Bueno alongside Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro denies coup and says he considered declaring a state of siege
Bolsonaro said that he even considered declaring a state of siege after the PL was fined R$22 million for questioning the security of the ballot boxes and the result of the 2022 elections. However, he highlighted that this possibility had been ruled out.
“If the president, using bad faith or disinformation, signs [o decreto] and send it there [Congresso]he is currently undergoing a criminal offense. But did we have a problem in Brazil? We had a problem,” he said.
The former president highlighted that the “word coup” was never in his dictionary, but said that he evaluated “all possible measures” within the Constitution. “If someone came to talk to me about a coup, I would ask: ‘What about the day after? The next day? How do we stand in front of the world?’”, he pointed out.
“Now, all possible measures within the four lines of the Constitution, I studied. The word coup was never in my dictionary… I would never do anything outside the four lines of the Constitution. It is possible to solve Brazil’s problems within the Constitution”, he stressed.
“It’s crazy to talk about a coup, my God, it’s crazy, a coup with a retired general and five active officers. And another thing: a coup exists against a constituted authority, when it has already taken office”, he added.
Plan to kill Lula “doesn’t work”, says Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro emphasized that he did not know about the alleged plan to assassinate President Lula (PT), Vice Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and Minister Alexandre de Moraes. The former president said that the PF’s revelation “doesn’t work”.
“This story about the assassination of authorities, in my opinion, was played to demonstrate that ‘look, we played outside the four lines’. Don’t stick it there. In my opinion, nothing has been initiated, we cannot now want to punish the crime of opinion”, he stated.
Asked if he knew about the plan that included the death of the authorities, he replied: “No, forget it. Within the four lines there is no death penalty.”
Bolsonaro reinforces criticism of Moraes and the TSE
Bolsonaro once again accused, without evidence, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) of having been biased during the 2022 elections. For the former president, the then president of the Electoral Court, minister Alexandre de Moraes, had “something personal” against he.
“The TSE took sides, it even decided that I couldn’t reduce the price of fuel, I didn’t talk about reducing the price of fuel, but the TSE prohibited it in advance, as if I were going to take a swing with Paulo Guedes [então ministro da Economia]”, he stated.
