The beginning of the trial against Jair Bolsonaro and his group of conspirators to prevent governing LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA He began in Brasilia with some spark between the judge of the Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes And a witness who is considered key, the former army, El General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes. The officer softened his version about the conspiracy he had made before the Federal Police (PF) and that it was decisive to impute the former president as head of the coup plot.
Freire Gomes denied having severely warned Bolsonaro the consequences of his plans. The story this Monday afternoon contradicted pre -existing words, as well as those of the Brigadier Junior Baptist, Head of the Air Force, who had told the PF that the then army head told him that he would be forced to arrest Bolsonaro if he went ahead with his destabilizing plan. Freire Gomes self -corrected and said he had only indicated that the then president could be “incriminated” if he adopted an illegal measure. And that the army “would not act in something that extrapolated our constitutional competence.” But in addition, he maintained before the STF that he was not in a position to interpret what the former head of the Navy, Admiral Almir Garnieranother of the defendants, meant when he announced Bolsonaro that he would support his actions. “I did not interpret it as any kind of collusion.”
De Moraes detected the contradictions, partly related to the coup text that the presidential environment had prepared. “The witness cannot omit what he knows. I will give you the opportunity to tell the truth. If he lied to the Federal Police, he has to recognize him. “The reaction of De Moraes obeyed the ambiguous response of the retired general that the attorney general, Paul He replied. The STF judge “got angry” with Freire Gomes When he said: “The witness is an army general, he was a commander of the Army, consequently, he is prepared to deal with tension, both in the police interrogation and here.” De Moraes was emphatic: “Think well before answering. You told the Federal Police (PF) together with the Baptista Junior Baptista spoke vigorously about the exposed content of the document. Or you lacked the truth before the police or is missing the truth here. ” The crime of false testimony.
Guns and turns in the statements
Freire Gomes confirmed to have gone to the Palace of the Alvorada (Presidential Residence) on December 7, 2022, convened by Bolsonaro, to participate in a meeting. There, an advisor to the then president presented a document in which the military intervention was suggested after the electoral result. Freire Gomes said the document was based on “legal aspects, within the Constitution” and, therefore, did not cause surprise. But in other meetings with Bolsonaro that they were more explicit, he expressed his opposition to a possible democratic rupture. “The Júnior Baptist Brigadier (former chief of the aeronautics) said he would do nothing and I informed the president, very cordially, that the measures I wanted to take should consider several aspects: international and national support, Congress, the legal part.” For the Brazilian press, the former Army Chief left the feeling that the words were not the same as he transmitted to the PF. “General’s statement to Moraes relieves (a little) to Bolsonaro”Said the magazine ´veja`.
After losing against Lula in the October elections for a little difference, Bolsonaro encouraged the creation and maintenance of the coup camps that gave rise to the attempt to take the headquarters of the three public powers in Brasilia, on January 8, 2023, a week after the presidential replacement-
Crimes and sorrows
In addition to Bolsonaro, the group of defendants includes The former defense ministers, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira and Walter Braga Netto, The former Chief of the National Intelligence Agency, Abin, Alexandre Ramagem, Admiral Garnier, the then Justice Minister Anderson Torres, General Augusto Heleno and Mauro Cid, the ex -helpant of Bolsonaro’s field whose statements before the PF were also vital for the progress of the investigations. The group has been accused by prosecutor Gonet of the crimes of Armed criminal organization, attempt at violent abolition of the democratic state of law, coup d’etatdamage qualified for violence and serious threat against public heritage and deterioration of cataloged heritage. Maximum penalties could overcome 40 years in prison.
The witness statement phase contemplates the presence in the STF of 80 people until mid -June. Bolsonaro insists that he is the victim of a persecution and that the accusations against him are a “telenovela (Culebrón) “. In a recent interview on a YouTube channel, WL leader of the extreme right, disabled to present public office until 2030 for denigrating the electoral system, began its judicial situation:” With 40 years of condemnation on my back, I have nowhere to appeal, I will die in jail. Which crime imputes me? An impossible crime, Disney’s coup. “Bolsonaro’s allies in the Supreme Court expect the sentence that will define the condemnation or acquittal of Bolsonaro to be known in October. The ultra -right is proposed in all these months to mobilize their followers to claim Congress An amnesty that benefits all the participants of the 8E.
