The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, defended once again, this Tuesday (11), the conviction of the nine defendants from nucleus 3 of the coup plot that tried to keep former president Jair Bolsonaro in power after his 2022 electoral defeat.
Investigations into this group “have revealed the declared homicidal and brutal disposition of the criminal organization”, said Gonet.
The nucleus is made up of nine Army soldiers and a federal police officer, accused of having gone into the field to monitor Minister Alexandre de Moraes at the end of 2022, with the aim of kidnapping and murdering him, or “neutralizing” him, according to the language used by Gonet in the complaint.
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During the trial, Gonet presented several messages in which the defendants from group 3 talk about “killing” opponents, especially Moraes.
In addition to the minister, the then-elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was monitored, according to the complaint. The plan also included the assassination of Lula and his vice-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, before taking office in January 2023.
Gonet highlighted that the Federal Police (PF) found documentary records of the Punhal Verde and Amarelo plans and the Copa 2022 operation, which detailed the execution of the coup planning.
Other evidence presented by the prosecution includes the displacement of cell phones and vehicles that would have been used by the defendants to monitor Moraes between November and December 2022.
The prosecutor also cited the trial of Bolsonaro himself and seven other allies. The former president was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for leading the coup plot. For Gonet, this “made the materiality of the facts uncontroversial”.
This Tuesday (11), the trial of nucleus 3 should be restricted to oral arguments from the prosecution and defenses. The Supreme Court reserved sessions for the 12th, 18th and 19th of November to continue analyzing the case. The trial takes place in the First Panel of the Supreme Court, composed of ministers Alexandre de Moraes (rapporteur and first to vote), Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino and Cármen Lúcia.
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Crimes
Like the defendants from the other groups, the ten defendants from group 3 are responsible for the crimes of armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d’état, qualified damage due to violence and serious threat, in addition to deterioration of listed property.
The defendants are known as “black kids”, soldiers who were part of the Army’s special forces group. The group was also accused of pressuring the commanders of the Armed Forces to join the coup plan through defamation campaigns.
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Core 3 Defendants:
- Bernardo Romão Correa Netto (colonel)
- Estevam Theophilo (general)
- Fabrício Moreira de Bastos (colonel)
- Hélio Ferreira Lima (lieutenant colonel)
- Márcio Nunes de Resende Júnior (colonel)
- Rafael Martins de Oliveira (lieutenant colonel)
- Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo (lieutenant colonel)
- Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior (lieutenant colonel)
- Sérgio Ricardo Cavaliere de Medeiros (lieutenant colonel)
- Wladimir Matos Soares (federal police officer)
In the case of Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Ferreira de Araújo Júnior, the PGR requested the disqualification of the accusation for the crime of incitement by the Armed Forces against constitutional powers. With this measure, he may be entitled to an agreement to avoid conviction. Currently, he responds to the five crimes charged to all defendants.
Other cores
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To date, the STF has already convicted 15 defendants for the coup plot: seven from Nucleus 4 and eight from Nucleus 1, led by former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The Core 2 trial is scheduled to begin on December 9th.
