Understand the next steps of the complaint against Bolsonaro

On Thursday (13), the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and 33 other accused, involved in the attempted coup after the 2022 elections. From that moment, the case goes to the Supreme Court (STF), where new steps must be taken.

Next steps in the STF:

1. Release for judgment by the rapporteur: The first step after the PGR manifestation is Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case, to release the process for trial. He will analyze the documentation and the argument presented so far to decide whether the case may proceed to the merit examination.
2. Definition of the judgment date: Once the process is released for trial, the next step is that the president of the first class, Minister Cristiano Zanin, sets the date for the trial to occur. The first class of the Supreme Court usually meets on Tuesdays, with sessions that take place every 15 days, which gives a time forecast for the advancement of the process.
3. Judgment of the receipt of the complaint: The judgment of receipt of the complaint is a preliminary stage, where the STF ministers will evaluate if there are sufficient evidence in the investigation to justify the opening of a criminal action. This judgment focuses on verifying minimal evidence that supports the accusation of attempted coup. The decision of the ministers will be crucial to determine whether the accused will become defendants.
4. Criminal action and case instruction: If the STF ministers decide to accept the complaint, the accused will become defendants and the process will move to the instructional phase. At this stage, statements of defendants and witnesses indicated by the parties will be made, as well as other steps and investigations, to clarify the facts and gather additional evidence.
5. Judgment and closure of the process: A sentence is expected to be rendered in 2025. The objective is to complete the case before the 2026 elections, preventing the process from drafting to the electoral calendar. If the defendants do not agree with the judgment, they may appeal, which may further prolong the processing, but the final judgment of the case should be done by the end of this year, according to the STF expectations.

This is the panorama of the next steps in the process involving the complaint against Bolsonaro and others involved in the attempted coup, aiming to avoid contamination of the 2026 electoral calendar.