Saturday, 23 November 2024

Jair Bolsonaro, 36 aides indicted by Brazilian police for alleged coup against President Lula


Brazilian police said their findings from the investigation, compiled in a 700-page document, were being delivered to the country's Supreme Court, overseen by Justice Minister Alexander de Moraes.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others were indicted for an alleged attempted coup against his successor, leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, according to a statement from the country's federal police on Thursday.

The former right-wing president has denied all claims he tried to overturn the November 2022 election results after Lula was declared the winner. Supporters of Bolsonaro had camped outside army headquarters and demanded a military intervention a week after his defeat, which Lula said had to be investigated and added "without Bolsonaro there would have been no coup attempt."

Brazilian police said their findings from the investigation, compiled in a 700-page document, were being delivered to the country's Supreme Court, overseen by Justice Minister Alexander de Moraes who earlier in the year banned X in Brazil over a censorship battle with Elon Musk. De Moraes said that the document will likely take several days to review, AP reports.

The court will now have to decide if the document will be referred to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonat, who can either formally charge Bolsonaro and send him to trial or toss out the investigation completely.

Police also said the court agreed to reveal the names of all 37 people who were indicted, including dozens former and current Bolsonaro aides, "to avoid the dissemination of incorrect news."

The investigation also led to the Tuesday arrest of four military and federal police officers who were accused of plotting to assassinate Lula and other top officials and overthrow the government following the 2022 election results.

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