The (Supreme Federal Court) begins this Tuesday (11) the trial of the military accused of acting in the attempted coup d’état against (PT) at the end of 2022.
The nucleus is made up of nine military personnel and a federal police officer. The majority of those denounced by the (Attorney General’s Office) are officers with training in special forces — the so-called .
The accusation divides the military core into three groups. The first and most troubled is the military accused of executing one of the ministers on December 15, 2022.
The lieutenant colonels were denounced for being part of a clandestine military group called . According to the PGR, the two soldiers, under code names, were ready to neutralize the Supreme Court minister, but ended up aborting the operation, without the approval of the Army Command.
The second group is made up of military personnel who, according to the PGR, acted to pressure the heads of the Armed Forces to support the coup plans proposed by the former president (PL) and allies at the Alvorada Palace.
The complaint highlights that a group of black kids met in the party room of a building in Brasília, on November 28, 2022, to develop strategies to pressure military leaders into supporting a coup d’état.
The PGR denounces a reserve general in this topic. Estevam Theophilo, who at the time was part of the Army High Command, is accused of endorsing the coup plans in a one-on-one meeting with Bolsonaro.
The general denies the accusation and highlights that the PGR’s complaint is based exclusively on a message sent by Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, without evidence regarding the alleged consent to the coup d’état.
The last group is accused of spreading disinformation about electronic voting machines and encouraging coup movements in front of the barracks. The main evidence against these defendants are also conversations with Cid.
The defendants in this group are (reserve colonel), (reserve general), (colonel), (lieutenant colonel), (reserve colonel), (lieutenant colonel), (lieutenant colonel), (lieutenant colonel), (reserve lieutenant colonel) and (federal police officer).
Nine of the defendants are responsible for the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, deterioration of public property and damage to listed property.
In the case of Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior, Attorney General Paulo Gonet stated, in closing arguments, that there was not enough evidence to charge him for the five crimes.
The PGR asked that the accusation against the soldier be downgraded and that he only face charges of incitement to commit a crime. The justification is that the soldier did not participate in coup meetings, but only spread false information about fraud in the electoral process to incite the Armed Forces to break democracy.
“Unlike the other defendants, no additional elements were gathered regarding the defendant’s in-depth connection with the criminal organization. The evidence indicates that Ronald Ferreira was not present at the meeting on 11/28/2022, nor did he follow the group’s subsequent steps”, says Gonet.
The PGR requested the disqualification of his conduct as incitement to crime, in a manner equated with the animosity of the Armed Forces against the Constitutional Powers. Furthermore, Gonet suggested that he had the power to negotiate relevant criminal benefits.
This week, the trial should be restricted to the reading of Minister Alexandre de Moraes’ report and the oral arguments of the prosecution and defenses of the ten defendants.
Attorney General Paulo Gonet will have two hours to present the reasons for convicting the defendants for crimes against democracy. Afterwards, each defense will have one hour to demonstrate the innocence of their clients.
The trial will resume next week, on November 18th and 19th, for the votes of the ministers. The first to speak will be minister-rapporteur Alexandre de Moraes. The order continues with Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia and Flávio Dino (president).
Minister Luiz Fux does not participate in the trial. The only one to vote for the acquittal of the defendants of the coup plot, he left the First Panel in October and did not formalize to the President of the Supreme Court the desire expressed in the plenary to maintain his right to vote in the processes regarding the coup plot.
