Brazil’s Bolsonaro participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report says

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a Federal Police report unsealed Tuesday.

Brazil’s Federal Police last Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their nearly 900-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal on Tuesday.

“The evidence collected throughout the investigation shows unequivocally that then-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organization aiming to launch a coup d’etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law, which did not take place due to reasons unrelated to his desire,” the document said.

At another point, it says: “Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation.”

The police report said the coup was not carried out due to resistance from then-army commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and the majority of the army’s high command.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or awareness of any plot to keep him in power or oust his leftist rival and successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The top court has passed the report on to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet. He will decide whether to formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation.

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Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro