The strategy of the defense of General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former Minister of Defense, to transfer responsibility for a possible coup to former President Jair Bolsonaro caused immediate reaction among allies of the former chief executive. During the second day of trial in the first class of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), in the context of the criminal action that investigates the attempted coup, the tactic of innocenting the general by implying Bolsonaro generated criticism on both social networks and behind the scenes.
For Deputy Sanderson (PL-RS), Bolsonaro’s ally, the maneuver was “suicidal”:
– He played all the responsibility to the president without presenting any proof. If he was the Minister of Defense and witnessed his boss suggesting a coup d’état, why did he remained in government until the last day? In addition to not paste, he got very badly to a four -star general – he said.
Under reserve, other allies described the defense strategy as “sneaky” and “unfair”. There are reports that Bolsonaro’s own family would have been uncomfortable comments while watching the trial in the condominium in which the former Mottizer was serving house arrest.
Some minimize discomfort. Senator and former vice president Hamilton Mourão focused on criticizing criminal action:
– I see each defense with its strategy in the search for customer innocence. The fact is that it is an addicted process, where the same person investigated, referred the accusation and is now judging. This only exists in totalitarian regimes, ”said Mourão, referring to Bolsonaro’s criticism of conducting the process.
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Publicly, who pulled the chorus of dissatisfaction was former secretary of communication and articulator of the former president, Fábio Wajngarten, who shared a forceful criticism on social networks: “I know very well what was the ‘modus operandi’ that lived in the president’s ear. insignificance ”.
Despite reaffirming respect for the Armed Forces, Wajngarten pointed out that high -ranking military man “villain politics” even before the Bolsonaro government: “they campaigned to advance folders that even dominated the basic themes, motivated by the benefits that follow the positions. Lies at this time when even the president can defend himself, ”he wrote.
Paulo Sérgio Nogueira is one of the eight defendants of the so -called “crucial core” of the coup plot. The defense sought to rule out his responsibility, presenting the narrative that the general would have acted to prevent exception measures suggested by Bolsonaro. During the trial, Andrew Fernandes Farias, Nogueira’s lawyer, said:
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– General Paulo Sérgio served to demo the president of any exception measure. The innocence of the general, according to the denunciation of Mauro Cid, the main witness of prosecution, is manifest.
The case refers to the final period of the Bolsonaro government, when the former Mandanker and his surroundings would have drawn a plan to follow in power, even after being defeated at the polls. Paulo Sérgio, who occupied the Ministry of Defense since 2022 and had a consolidated trajectory as general four stars, began to be seen as a central piece. For the former president’s allies, however, his permanence in the government in the face of signs of coup planning is questionable.
In addition to the political context, the trial carries a strong symbolic repercussion. He brings together high-ranking military personnel, former presidents and the Supreme Court on the same stage, exposing institutional weaknesses and strategic differences within the past government itself. To date, the strategy of moving the focus of the accusation to Bolsonaro has caused intense criticism at the base.
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Bolsonaro’s defense, in turn, has sustained that the former president did not participate in any coup attempt and that he was abroad when the undemocratic acts of January 8, 2023 occurred. The trial continues next week, with sessions scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
