Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro plotted a coup to overturn the 2022 election along with dozens of ex-ministers and senior aides, federal police say in a formal accusation filed with the country’s Supreme Court.
The final police report caps a nearly two-year investigation into Mr Bolsonaro’s role in the election-denying movement that culminated in riots by his supporters that swept the capital Brasilia in January 2023, just a week after his rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office.
Many protesters at the time said they wanted to create chaos to justify a military coup, which they considered imminent.
Earlier this week, police arrested five conspirators suspected of planning to assassinate Lula before he took office.
Investigators found evidence Mr Bolsonaro knew of that alleged plan, according to a police source familiar with the probe.
Mr Bolsonaro said on social media that investigators and the Supreme Court judge overseeing the case had been “creative” and done “everything the law does not say”, adding that he would have to look closer at the formal police accusation. His lawyer told Reuters he would wait to see the report before commenting.
The formal police accusations against Mr Bolsonaro are a fresh blow to his plan to run for president in 2026.
US president-elect Donald Trump’s recent victory had buoyed Mr Bolsonaro allies trying to overturn a court decision that had blocked him from public office for attacking the legitimacy of the 2022 vote.
With the police report now filed with the Supreme Court, the country’s prosecutor-general will decide whether to press charges against Mr Bolsonaro and 36 others accused of criminal organisation to violently overthrow the democratic order.
Among the accused are two of Mr Bolsonaro’s former defence ministers, including his 2022 running mate, retired General Walter Braga Netto; his former national security adviser, retired General Augusto Heleno; former navy commander Almir Garnier Santos; and former Justice Minister Anderson Torres.
Politician Alexandre Ramagem, who ran the Brazilian spy agency ABIN, and the head of Mr Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, were also among the accused named in a federal police statement.
Lawyers for General Heleno and Mr Torres and aides to Mr Ramagem and Mr Braga Netto declined to comment. Representatives for Garnier Santos and Costa Neto did not immediately respond to questions.
Brazil’s defence ministry, army and navy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Reuters
