Brazil’s prosecutor-general on Tuesday filed charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro for attempting a coup to remain in office after his 2022 election defeat.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet alleges that Bolsonaro and 33 others participated in a plan to stay in power despite losing to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Last November, Federal Police filed a 884-page report with Gonet detailing the scheme. They allege it involved systematically sowing distrust of the electoral system among the many populace, drafting a decree to provide the plot a veneer of legality, pressuring top military brass to associate with the plan, and inciting a riot within the capital.
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The Supreme Court will analyze the costs and, if accepted, Bolsonaro will stand trial.
The far-right leader denies wrongdoing. “I actually have no concerns concerning the accusations, zero,” Bolsonaro told journalists earlier on Tuesday during a visit to the Senate in Brasilia.
“Have you ever seen the coup decree, by any likelihood? You haven’t. Neither have I,” he added.
A lawyer for Bolsonaro didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
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