Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of allegedly attempting a coup to keep him in office following his defeat in the 2022 election.
Brazil’s federal police said Thursday they have charged the former conservative president and 36 other people.
Police said their findings would be delivered on Thursday to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which must decide whether to refer them to Attorney General Paulo Gonet, who will formally charge Bolsonaro and try him, or dismiss the investigation.
The right-wing former president has denied all claims that he intended to remain in office following his narrow 2022 election loss to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then.
Police said in a brief statement that the Supreme Court had agreed to reveal the names of the 37 accused people “to prevent the spread of incorrect news.”
The court will likely take several days to review the 700-page police document, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of allegedly attempting a coup to keep him in office following his defeat in the 2022 election.
Dozens of former and current Bolsonaro collaborators were also charged, including General Walter Braga Netto, who was his running mate in the 2022 campaign; the former army commander, General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira; Valdemar Costa Neto, president of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party; and his veteran former advisor, General Augusto Heleno.
The investigation began last year. On Tuesday, four soldiers and a federal police officer were detained as part of the same investigation.
Other investigations focus on Bolosnaro’s possible role in smuggling diamond jewelry into Brazil without properly declaring it and ordering a subordinate to falsify his and other people’s COVID-19 vaccination status. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either.
Another investigation found that he had abused his authority to sow doubt about the country’s voting system, and judges banned him from running again until 2030.
The far-reaching investigations have weakened Bolsonaro’s status as a leader of the Brazilian right, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
“Bolsonaro is already prohibited from running in the 2026 elections,” Melo told The Associated Press.
And if he is found guilty, then he could also go to prison. To avoid being behind bars, he will have to convince the Supreme Court judges that he has nothing to do with a plot that involves dozens of his aides. “It’s a very difficult task,” Melo said.
On Tuesday, federal police arrested four military personnel and one federal police officer accused of plotting to overthrow the government after the 2022 elections, including alleged plans to kill Lula and other top officials.