For almost an hour, Paulo Gonet discussed the complaint and stated that the accused in this group promoted an ‘information war’ with the aim of preparing the ground for the coup d’état
The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), asked this Tuesday (14) for the conviction of the seven defendants from Nucleus 4 of the coup plot that tried to keep the former president in power even after the electoral defeat. For almost an hour, Gonet discussed the complaint and stated that the accused in this group promoted an “information war” with the aim of preparing the ground for the coup d’état. “It was the members of this nucleus, now on trial, who dedicated themselves to fabricating and disseminating false narratives, with the aim of instilling in the population the conviction that the democratic structure was turning, in a nasty way, against the people”, summarized Gonet.
According to Gonet, “such a war” would have been fought from within the government. The PGR also said it had presented evidence about the existence of the so-called “parallel Abin”, which would have used the structure of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) to monitor political opponents. The objective, according to Gonet, would also be to provide material to be used by disseminators of fake news, starting with attacks on the electoral system and then with defamatory campaigns against authorities.
Among the targets of the defamatory campaigns, according to Gonet, were the former commanders of the Army and Air Force, for having refused to join the coup plans. The PGR also stated that on another front, some of the defendants produced a false report, with supposedly technical but untrue information regarding electronic voting machines. “Such a report was used to question the result of the 2022 presidential race, in which Bolsonaro was defeated, inflaming Bolsonaro militancy,” said Gonet.
Defendants
They are part of Core 4:
- Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros (Army reserve major);
- Ângelo Martins Denicoli (Army reserve major);
- Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues (Army warrant officer);
- Guilherme Marques de Almeida (Army lieutenant colonel);
- Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu (Army colonel);
- Marcelo Araújo Bormevet (federal police officer);
- Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha (president of Instituto Voto Legal).
They are responsible for the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, qualified damage through violence and serious threat and deterioration of listed property.
In general, the defenses stated, in written final arguments, that the PGR was unable to individualize the conduct of each defendant nor did it present complete evidence of the crimes, with the process being made up only of evidence and assumptions, in a generic narrative.
Session
The trial of nucleus 4 began this Tuesday morning. After reading the report by the minister and Gonet’s statement, the lawyers present their clients’ defenses.
The trial session began shortly after 9 am and will have a lunch break, returning in the afternoon. The forecast is that only the prosecution and defense demonstrations will take place on this first day. Three more sessions were reserved for the finalization of the trial, to be held on the 15th, 21st and 22nd of this month, in which the ministers of the First Panel must vote on the acquittal or conviction of the defendants. The panel is made up of Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case, and ministers Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Luiz Fux and Cármen Lúcia.
Cores
The coup d’état trial was divided by the PGR, with approval from the Supreme Court, into four groups, grouped according to their role within the criminal organization. As a member of Nucleus 1, or “the crucial one”, former president Jair Bolsonaro has already been condemned by the First Panel of the Supreme Court as leader of the criminal organization. Six other people were also convicted.
In addition to Core 4, Cores 2 and 3 will be judged later this year. The trial of Core 3 is scheduled for November 11th. Core 2 will be judged in December.
“The defendants systematically propagated false news about the electoral process and carried out virtual attacks on institutions and also on authorities that threatened the interests of the criminal organization”, denounces the PGR.
*With information from Agência Brasil
Published by Nícolas Robert
