‘There is no doubt that the accused Jair Messias Bolsonaro knew and handled and discussed the project of the coup’ in 2023. These are the words of the judge who saw clues and knowledge of the far-right politician about the steps in the coup.
Brazil’s Supreme Court last week unanimously accepted the complaint about the 2022 coup attempt, making former president Jair Bolsonaro and seven other allies defendants in a criminal action.
The votes of the five members of the first chamber of the Supreme Court were enough to move the case forward. Now, the court will begin the punitive task of convicting or acquitting the ex-governor and the other defendants.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the process, was the first to vote for the reception of the complaint and spoke for an hour and a half. During his speech, he highlighted the evidence of crime and materiality raised in the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office against Bolsonaro and seven allies. He pointed out that ‘interpretations of the fact will be made during the criminal investigation,’ the judge said.
He alluded to the acknowledgement by the defendants’ own defences that the anti-democratic act of 8 January 2023 was extremely serious and violent. Six of the eight lawyers did not deny this in their oral arguments.
The minister then showed on the STF screen a sequence of images of the scenes of aggression, destruction and fires. ‘If that is not violence, what is violence,’ asked De Moraes.
Judges Flávio Dino, Luiz Fux, Carmen Lucia Antunes and Cristiano Zanin followed the rapporteur in rapid-fire speeches.
For example, Antunes recalled attempts to prevent voters from voting in 2022 and claimed that the machine was working ‘to discredit what is reliable for the Brazilian citizen, for the simple circumstance that the Brazilian electoral process is reliable, secure and correct’.
There is prima facie evidence of receipt of the complaint of the Attorney General’s Office, which points to Bolsonaro as the leader of the criminal organisation, demonstrating his involvement with the elements in the investigation of the Federal Police. The decision was taken on the basis of the complaint filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, which attributes to the group the formation of the so-called crucial nucleus aimed at institutional rupture. PL
(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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