Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for coup attempt

By Pablo Meriguet
From People’s Dispatch

On Wednesday March 26, after several months of uncertainty, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) announced the start of the judicial process against the former extreme right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. Judges Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino, Luiz Fux, Carmen Lúcia, and Cristiano Zanin voted unanimously to start the trial.

According to the prosecution, the former president led a “criminal organization” that sought to prevent Lula da Silva from assuming the presidency.  In addition to Bolsonaro, seven others will be prosecuted for attempted coup d’état, involvement in an armed criminal organization, property damage, and the violent abolition of the State. Among the defendants are former high-ranking military officers, including former Secretary of Institutional Security Augusto Heleno, former Secretary of Defense Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, and former Secretary of the Civil House Braga Netto.

The Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a 40-year sentence for Bolsonaro, citing an alleged plan that involved the declaration of a state of emergency and the assassination of Lula da Silva, his vice president, and Judge Alexandre de Moraes. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the plan was not carried out due to a lack of support from the Army’s top military command.

The investigations began after January 8, 2023, when thousands of people who rejected Lula da Silva’s victory stormed and vandalized the headquarters of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in Brasilia, the country’s capital. Images of Bolsonaro supporters entering public buildings went viral and were even compared to images of hundreds of US citizens entering the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Reactions to the approval of the trial

Regarding the accusations, former President Bolsonaro posted on his X account that the trial is part of an alleged plan to prevent his re-election as President of Brazil: “Now, as the economy collapses, businesses shutter, and families struggle to afford necessities, those in power are focused on ensuring I spend the rest of my life in prison so I can never run for president again. – This is the same authoritarian playbook we’ve seen in Venezuela, where courts were weaponized to decide elections before a single vote was cast. The Brazilian people are being robbed of their right to choose their leader, and no country can call itself a democracy when its most popular candidate is barred from the ballot through judicial maneuvers. – Everyone knows that if I were allowed to run, I would win.”

For its part, Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT), of which President Lula da Silva is a member, welcomed the judicial decision and stated that the truth that will be confirmed in the trial will make it possible to repair the damage caused by the alleged coup perpetrators:

“Historic day! Today, Brazil began a process of justice and reparation: it put Bolsonaro and seven of his coup supporters in the dock. Unanimously, the STF accepted the Attorney General’s complaint and opened criminal proceedings against the ineligible leader of the armed criminal organization and his allies for attempting a coup d’état and related crimes. It’s a unique moment in our history to prosecute and judge, within the Constitution, those responsible for attacking the democratic rule of law.”