Brazil’s former president indicted for attempted coup against his successor

A panel of five judges from Brazil’s Supreme Court has voted unanimously to bring to justice Bolsonaro, 70, for his alleged attempted coup against his former rival and current president, Lula Da Silva.

Bolsonaro is accused of plotting with seven former government officials to plan and support actions aimed at overthrowing the government.

Among Jair Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators are several influential figures, such as Alexandre Ramagem, former head of intelligence services, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former navy commander, and Anderson Torres, former security minister.

General Augusto Heleno, former minister of institutional security, is also involved in this case, as well as generals Walter Braga Netto and Paulo Sergio Nogueira de Oliveira, former ministers of Defense.

Mauro Cid, the former assistant of Bolsonaro, is also one of the accused.

The attempted coup, which Bolsonaro and his co-accused are accused of having planned and supported, took place on January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s inauguration.

Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia, an event that recalled the scenes of January 6, 2021, in the United States.

An 884-page investigative report, published in November 2024, accuses Bolsonaro of having directly supported actions aimed at overthrowing the government.

After trying for weeks to convince the army to prevent Lula from taking the oath as president on January 1, 2023, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings, including the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Planalto presidential palace, a week later, on January 8, 2023.

Jair Bolsonaro left Brazil two days before the end of his term, on December 30, 2022, to go to Orlando, Florida. He stayed there for several months, until March 2023, before returning to Brazil.

Bolsonaro rejects the criminal charges against him, calling them a «political persecution» aimed, according to him, at preventing him from running for the presidency of Brazil in the 2026 elections.