The first class of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) will hear, on Wednesday (21), the former Air Force commander Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior. The testimony, in the context of the criminal action that investigates alleged attempted coup d’état in 2022, is scheduled for 11:30.
The hearing of the lieutenant brigadier, previously scheduled for Monday (19), was postponed at the request of Baptista Jr., who claimed to be abroad. The postponement was confirmed in a decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the action at the Court.
Baptista Jr. was nominated as a witness by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR). It was also nominated by the defenses of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), former Navy commander Almir Garnier and former army commander Paulo Sérgio Nogueira.
During the Federal Police (PF) investigation, the former Aeronautics chief testified and said he had attended meetings with coup content. The lieutenant brigadier reported having participated in meetings where the terms of the so-called “scam draft” were discussed.
Like General Marco Antonio Freire Gomes, former Army Commander, Baptista Jr. reported that he was positioned against the idea of a democratic rupture. After the refusal to support the initiative, the military reported that he was the target of criticism and attacks on Bolsonaro’s supporters of supporters.
The Supreme Court began the hearings with the first witnesses of the case related to the so -called “crucial core” of the coup plan. The first hearings are names listed by the prosecution.
All hearings were held by video conferencing and accompanied by the defendants of the accused, as well as representatives of PGR. They were heard:
- Éder Lindsay Magalhães Balbino: entrepreneur who would have helped set up a false dossier pointing out fraud in the electronic ballot box;
- Clebson Ferreira de Paula Vieira: Intelligence Analyst at the Ministry of Justice’s General Intelligence Coordination, he would have been responsible for a survey with municipalities in which Lula and Bolsonaro concentrated a vote of more than 75% in the first round of the 2022 presidential election;
- Adiel Pereira Alcântara: Former Federal Highway Police Intelligence Analysis Coordinator (PRF), he would have active to hinder voters’ displacement in the second round;
- Marco Antonio Freire Gomes: Former Army Commander, he was reportedly pressured to join the alleged coup plot.
