The Military Public Ministry sent representations to the Superior Military Court on Tuesday (3) for the loss of rank and patent of those convicted in the action that uncovered the coup plot
The Attorney General of Military Justice, Clauro de Bortolli, sent on Tuesday (3) to the Superior Military Court (STM) representations for loss of rank and patent against four generals convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in the action that investigated the coup plot. The head of the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office listed the reasons why he understands that those sentenced have become unworthy or incompatible with officialdom.
The list includes retired general Walter Braga Netto, retired admiral Almir Garnier, retired general Augusto Heleno and retired general Paulo Sérgio Nogueira. The former president and, according to the Public Ministry, he should lose his retired military rank.
In all cases, the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that, in addition to the criminal convictions, the officers violated the most basic ethical precept of the Military Statute: the duty to “love the truth and responsibility as a foundation of personal dignity”.
Furthermore, according to the Military Public Ministry, all military personnel also failed to comply with the following precepts of the Military Statute:
- Duty of probity and to act in an unblemished manner in public life;
- Respect for human dignity;
- Compliance with laws and orders from competent authorities;
- Compliance with civil authorities;
- Fulfillment of your duties as a citizen;
- Zeal for the good name of the Armed Forces and its members;
- Dedication and loyalty to the Fatherland;
- Probity and loyalty;
- Discipline, respect and military decorum.
For these reasons, Bortolli maintains that generals must be punished, even if they are in reserve or retired.
The STM will not re-examine the merits of the convictions imposed by the STF. It will only be up to the Military Court to assess whether the conduct described makes the officers unworthy or incompatible with the role of officer.
The central points of the Military MP’s representations in each case:
- Walter Braga Netto: ‘figure of gigantic relevance’ in the coup plot
According to the Military Public Ministry, retired general Walter Souza Braga Netto acted decisively to give concreteness to the coup plan, both in the political and operational fields.
“As Minister Flávio Dino highlighted, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto is ‘a figure of gigantic relevance in the coup plot (…) he exercised great influence over then-president Jair Bolsonaro and dozens of coup groupings and vectors’”, stated Bortolli.
In addition to the precepts broken by all military personnel, the MPM also maintains that Braga Netto violated additional duties of the Military Statute by associating military personnel who did not endorse the coup movement with the figure of “traitors to the country”, violating principles such as camaraderie and a spirit of cooperation.
The general would also have violated discretion in his attitudes and language, as well as the rules of good manners, by referring to the then Army commander, General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes, in a written message, as “shit”.
“He also acted with disregard for the practice of ‘comradeship’ and the ‘spirit of cooperation’ (…) and discretion ‘in his attitudes, manners and in his written and spoken language’, as well as the observance of ‘norms of good education’”, wrote Bortolli.
- Almir Garnier: support for illicit orders and alignment with the coup project
Reserve admiral Almir Garnier, then commander of the Navy, is described by the MPM as a member of the criminal organization led by Jair Bolsonaro.
“The now represented Fleet Admiral Almir Garnier Santos made himself ‘available to execute illicit orders aimed at disrupting the Democratic Rule of Law’”, stated Bortolli.
The attorney general also maintained that Garnier violated several precepts of the Military Statute.
“Instead of acting with ‘dedication’ and ‘fidelity to the Fatherland’, (…) he helped to organize a coup against its institutions, moving away from ‘probity and loyalty’ and ‘discipline’”, he explained.
The central points of the patent loss request include its alignment with the coup project and the willingness to comply with illegal orders.
- Augusto Heleno: use of GSI and ‘ABIN Paralela’ for illicit purposes
Retired general Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, then head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI), is appointed by the MPM as a key player in the initial phase of the coup plot to instrumentalize the body and the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin).
According to Bortolli, the criminal acts began in July 2021, with the use of Abin and the GSI, under the leadership of Heleno, “for the construction and dissemination (…) of a false and illicit version about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines and the lack of legitimacy of the Electoral Court, with the purpose of generating institutional instability and social chaos”.
The Military MP maintains that Heleno violated the principles of discipline, respect and military decorum.
“Although already inactive, but still holding the highest rank within the Brazilian Army, it can be seen that the person represented here stopped ‘conducting himself, even outside of service or when already inactive, in such a way that the principles of discipline, respect and military decorum are not harmed’, and equally stopped caring ‘for the good name of the Armed Forces and each of its members’, moving away from the necessary obedience ‘to the precepts of military ethics’”, wrote Bortolli
- Paulo Sérgio Nogueira: manipulation of the Armed Forces report on the polls
Retired general Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, then Minister of Defense, is accused of acting to delegitimize the electoral process from within the Ministry of Defense itself.
According to the MPM, after a meeting on July 5, 2022, the then President of the Republic ordered Paulo Sérgio “to produce an inspection report on the Electronic Voting System, with the purpose of ‘proving’ the vulnerability of the electoral system and the possibility of fraud, in order to, by discrediting the Electoral Court, delegitimize any adverse result in the election”.
Based on the criminal conviction and violations of the Military Statute, Bortolli requested the loss of his post and patent.
“The Military Public Prosecutor’s Office represents this collective Court so that (…) it declares the Remunerated Reserve Army General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira unworthy for officership and, therefore, condemns him to the loss of his post and patent”, he petitioned.
What the STM will decide about those convicted of attempted coups
The STM will analyze whether the conduct described by the Military MP makes the four officers unworthy or incompatible with the official role.
If it accepts the representations, the Court may decree the loss of post and patent, including for military personnel already in reserve or retired — a consequence provided for in the Constitution when there is a criminal conviction of more than two years.
In the last eight years, the STM accepted around 93% of the Military MP’s requests for the expulsion of convicted soldiers. However, the Court has never tried generals for crimes against democracy.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
