Brazil’s chief prosecutor, Paulo Gonet, has called for a guilty verdict against former President Jair Bolsonaro, accusing him of leading an alleged coup plot to overturn the 2022 election.
Gonet stated that “the evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilisation of the democratic rule of law.” The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organisation, attempting to stage a coup, and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.
Bolsonaro has denied the allegations, claiming that he never violated democracy or the constitution. “All the accusations are false. I never violated democracy or the constitution,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, hours before Gonet submitted his final allegations. He described the trial as a “witch hunt,” echoing a term used by US President Donald Trump when he came to his defense last week.
The trial is expected to proceed in the second half of the year, with experts anticipating a conviction or acquittal by the panel of Supreme Court justices. A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years, while a conviction on all charges could bring decades behind bars. Bolsonaro’s defense team will present their case shortly.
The prosecution’s allegations against Bolsonaro include inciting violence and attempting to disrupt the transfer of power. Gonet said that Bolsonaro’s actions “were not limited to a passive stance of resistance to defeat, but were a conscious effort to create an environment conducive to violence and a coup.” The prosecution also claims that the criminal organisation documented almost all of the actions described in the indictment through recordings, handwritten notes, digital files, spreadsheets, and exchanges of electronic messages.
US President Donald Trump imposed a 50 percent import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro’s trial. Trump described Bolsonaro as a friend and said that Brazil “is doing a terrible thing in their treatment” of him.
Brazil’s Supreme Court president, Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, criticized the US sanctions, saying they are based on “an inaccurate understanding” of events. “For those who didn’t live through a dictatorship or don’t remember one, it’s worth remembering: there was a lack of freedom, torture, forced disappearances, the closure of Congress, and the persecution of judges. In today’s Brazil, no one is persecuted,” Barroso said.
Senior US diplomat Darren Beattie accused the Brazilian government of “attacks” on Bolsonaro and freedom of expression. “Such attacks are a disgrace and fall well below the dignity of Brazil’s democratic traditions,” Beattie said in a social media post. The case has sparked controversy and raised questions about the state of democracy in Brazil.