STF begins judging ‘core four’ of the coup plot: see who they are and the accusations

This Tuesday morning, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) begins judging core four of the coup plot, accused of spreading disinformation to disrupt the 2022 election. The Court reserved six sessions — which will take place until October 22 — for the trial of the group’s seven defendants. In September, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) requested the conviction of all members of the nucleus for the five crimes with which they are accused. The defenses, in turn, ask for acquittal.

This group includes former Army major Ailton Barros, sergeant Giancarlo Rodrigues, federal police officer Marcelo Bormevet, colonel Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, lieutenant colonel Guilherme Marques Almeida, reserve major Angelo Denicoli and engineer Carlos Rocha.

The complaint states that the seven members of the so-called nucleus four of the coup plot acted in a coordinated manner with the central nucleus. According to the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, the members of this group “propagated false news about the electoral process and carried out virtual attacks on institutions and authorities that threatened the group’s interests”.

The PGR asks the court that those involved be convicted of the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, attempted coup d’état and qualified damage and deterioration of listed property.

Find out what weighs against the defendants:

Ailton Barros

According to the complaint, Ailton Barros participated in attacks against the then commanders of the Army, Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, and the Air Force, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior, because they had not joined the coup plan.

In testimony to the STF in July, the former major stated that he understood General Braga Netto’s requests for attacks on commanders of the Armed Forces as the “crying of a campaign loser”. In the investigation, it appears that Ailton sent Braga Netto a screenshot of a message sent to General Freire Gomes, then commander of the Army, in which the text called for action by the military. “Either you take a PATRIOTIC ATTITUDE urgently or all of us MILITARY men will bear the mark of DISHONOR, of COWARDY for the rest of our lives and will be considered TRAITORS to the HOMELAND!”, says an excerpt.

Now to the STF, Ailton states that he has no relationship with Braga Netto and that he only held conversations with him out of interest in political support in elections in Rio de Janeiro. In 2022, he was a candidate for state deputy.

“He’s not my friend, he’s not my colleague. I never had the opportunity to talk to him,” he said. The former major stated that he began having “visual contact” with Braga Netto from the first round of 2022, when he contested the election. Ailton said that he even asked the general to record a campaign video for him, but the then vice-presidential candidate refused, citing private reasons.

The former major also said that the first message he sent to Braga Netto was sent in the wrong way. However, in order to get closer to him, he did not want to upset him, and that is why he sent a response talking about handing over Freire Gomes’ head “to the lions”. “We are going to offer his head to the lions,” Ailton wrote at the time.

Giancarlo Rodrigues and Marcelo Bormevet

Giancarlo Rodrigues and Marcelo Bormevet worked at Abin during the management of today’s deputy Alexandre Ramagem, who was convicted for participating in the central nucleus. They are accused of promoting disinformation against opponents. According to the complaint, both defendants were part of the Abin Paralela structure and used false information to attack the electoral voting system.

The investigations involving the “parallel Abin” case in the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro began after GLOBO revealed, in March last year, the purchase of a spy system by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency to monitor the location of pre-determined targets across the country.

According to the complaint, Bormevet had instructed Rodrigues to publish false allegations against Court ministers: Luiz Fux and Luís Roberto Barroso. He would have insisted on searching for alleged compromising links against the then president of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court).

Rodrigues, according to the PGR, shared prints of posts on X with attacks and misinformation, including against members of the Court.

Rodrigues’ defense stated that his relationship with Bormevet was only professional, while the federal police officer’s lawyers denied the relationship between his activities and the alleged coup plan.

Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, Guilherme Marques Almeida, Angelo Denicoli and Carlos Rocha

Colonel Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, Lieutenant Colonel Guilherme Marques Almeida and reserve major Angelo Denicoli allegedly helped spread false information about the polls. The same suspicion occurs against Carlos Rocha, president of Instituto Voto Legal, an organization hired by the PL and which helped support the party’s action asking for the annulment of part of the votes.

The following sessions were reserved for the judgment of nucleus four:

October 14th: two sessions, morning and afternoon

October 15th: one session, in the morning

October 21st: two morning and afternoon sessions

October 22nd: one session, in the morning