Brazil’s Bolsonaro echoes Trump by describing coup plot trial as a ’witch hunt’

Article content

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s chief prosecutor has called for a guilty verdict in the case of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial accused of leading an alleged coup plot.

“The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law,” Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a 517-page document released late on Monday.

Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by a left-wing rival.

“All the accusations are false. I never violated democracy or the constitution,” Bolsonaro said on X hours before Gonet submitted his final allegations. He said the trial was a “witch hunt,” echoing a term used by U.S. President Donald Trump when he came to his South American ally’s defence last week.

The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.

The defence will present its case shortly. Then the panel of Supreme Court justices that opened a trial against the former president will vote on whether to convict or acquit him. Experts expect that to happen in the second half of the year.

A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. A conviction on that and other charges could bring decades behind bars.

The former president has repeatedly denied the allegations and asserted that he is the target of political persecution.

A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump last week imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro’s trial. The U.S. president has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020.

Trump said that Brazil “is doing a terrible thing in their treatment” of Bolsonaro. He added that Bolsonaro “is not guilty of anything, except for having fought for the people,” and compared the Brazilian’s situation to his own.

Gonet formally charged Bolsonaro and 33 others in February in connection with an alleged coup days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Gonet said 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.” He added that “the criminal organization documented almost all of the actions described in the indictment through recordings, handwritten notes, digital files, spreadsheets, and exchanges of electronic messages.”

The prosecution is also seeking convictions for several close allies of Bolsonaro, including his running mate during the 2022 election and former defense minister, Walter Braga Netto, ex-Justice Minister Anderson Torres and his aide-de-camp Mauro Cid.

Brazil’s Supreme Court president, Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, said the U.S. “sanctions” — a reference to Trump’s tariffs — 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.

Bolsonaro, a former military officer who was known to express nostalgia for the country’s past dictatorship, openly defied Brazil’s judicial system during his 2019-2022 term in office.

He has been banned by Brazil’s top electoral court from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and casting unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.