General Walter Braga Netto, arrested on charges of obstructing the investigation investigating an attempted coup d’état, is identified by the Federal Police (PF) as a central figure in the criminal organization that allegedly planned to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The objective would be to keep Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in power after his defeat in the 2022 presidential elections.
According to the investigation, the coup plan included the arrest of ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), in addition to the murder of the then president-elect, Lula, his vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin, and STF minister Alexandre de Moraes. According to the PF, Braga Netto was not only aware of the plan but also financed the coup agents who would carry out the operation.
In November, General Walter Braga Netto, former President Jair Bolsonaro, PL President Valdemar Costa Neto, General Augusto Heleno and 36 other people were indicted by the Federal Police for direct or indirect involvement in the coup plot. Check out the main points of the investigation below:
Preventive detention
Although he is identified by the Federal Police as a central player in the preparation of the coup, Braga Netto’s arrest this Saturday, the 15th, is not formally linked to his direct participation in the coup plot, but to his actions to hinder the progress of investigations conducted by the police.
According to the PF, the general was trying to obstruct the investigations through actions such as seeking access to confidential information from Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid’s testimony, combining versions of statements, coercing witnesses or eliminating evidence. The military’s defense, however, denies that he tried to hinder the investigations and claims that the general was not aware of any coup plot or assassination attempt.
Braga Netto’s preventive detention does not represent an early application of punishment for the alleged crimes related to the coup plot. Its objective is to prevent the accused from committing new crimes or interfering in the progress of the process, whether by destroying evidence, threatening witnesses or trying to escape.
Continues after advertising
Central figure in the coup plot
Braga Netto is identified by the Federal Police as a central figure in the coup plot. According to investigations, the retired general had handed over money in a wine bag to Army Special Forces officers, known as “black kids”, to finance the assassination plan for Lula, Alckmin and Moares. Furthermore, says the Federal Police, the soldier’s house in Brasília would have been used for meetings of the criminal organization that planned the coup.
The money would have been handed over to Major Rafael Martins de Oliveira, arrested in Operation Contragolpe, and would be used to “finance the expenses necessary to carry out the operation”. This information was revealed by Mauro Cid in a statement to the police. According to Cid, Braga Netto said that the money “had been obtained from agribusiness people”. The Federal Police, however, has not yet identified the origin of the resources.
The PF accuses Braga Netto of trying to pressure military personnel to participate in the coup attempt throughout December 2022. Among the targets would be General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, then commander of the Army, and the former commander of the Air Force, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior. According to the PF, Bolsonaro met with Freire Gomes and presented legal arguments to justify a “democratic rupture”, but the Army commander rejected the proposal.
Continues after advertising
PGR must decide on the progress of investigations
In November, the Federal Police indicted Bolsonaro, Braga Netto and 38 other people for the crimes of violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état and criminal organization. Combined, the maximum penalties for these crimes reach 28 years in prison. The report was accepted by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, and sent to the Attorney General’s Office, the top body of the Public Ministry (MP).
Investigations show that the planning for the democratic rupture included meetings with the top of the Armed Forces, drafts of coup minutes, a spreadsheet with details of the coup, drafts of the “crisis office” that would be installed after the rupture and even a poisoning plan for Lula and to eliminate Moraes with the bomb.
Following the legal process, it will be up to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to decide whether to close the investigations, which means the closure of the case, or whether to report the accused to the Supreme Court, which will lead the Court to analyze the accusation and make those under investigation defendants. . If the STF receives the complaint, a criminal action will be opened against the Bolsonaros and their allies, with the trial and definition of guilty and innocent.
Continues after advertising
Furthermore, it will be up to Minister Alexandre de Moraes to evaluate the request and order the PF to carry out measures, such as expanding investigations.
