SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a plot to stay in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections, according to a federal police report that was released on Tuesday.
Brazil’s federal police formally charged Bolsonaro and 36 other people with an attempted coup last Thursday. They sent their nearly 900-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal on Tuesday.
“The evidence collected during the investigation unequivocally shows that then President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organization aimed at staging a coup and to eliminate democratic rule of law. not take place for reasons unrelated to his wishes,” the document said.
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At another point it says: “Bolsonaro had full awareness and active participation.”
According to the police report, the coup was not carried out due to the resistance of then army commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and the majority of the army high command.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and awareness of a plot to keep him in power or oust his left-wing rival and successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Supreme Court passed on the report to Attorney General Paulo Gonet. He will decide whether to formally charge and try Bolsonaro or abandon the investigation.
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Hughes reported from Rio de Janeiro
