Federal Police indicts Bolsonaro, Braga Netto, Heleno, and 34 others for coup attempt following Lula's 2022 victory

Document submitted to the Supreme Court will be reviewed by Alexandre de Moraes The Brazilian Federal Police have accused former President Jair Bolsonaro, former ministers Braga Netto (Defense and Chief of Staff), Augusto Heleno (Institutional Security Office), Paulo Sérgio Nogueira (Defense), and 33 others of attempting a coup d'état, attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law, and involvement in a criminal organization. According to the Federal Police, there was a "criminal organization that acted in a coordinated manner in 2022, attempting to maintain the then-President of the Republic in power." Coup attempt: Federal police arrest four military officers and one federal agent in plot to assassinate Lula, Alckmin, and Moraes in 2022 Timeline: Arsenal, route mapping and coup attempt: the plan to assassinate Moraes, Lula, and Alckmin, according to Federal Police The former director-general of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), Alexandre Ramagem, currently a federal deputy, was also accused. The report has been finalized and submitted to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) this afternoon. "The evidence was obtained through various police operations conducted over nearly two years, based on telematic, telephone, banking, and tax secrecy breaches, plea agreements, searches and seizures, among other measures duly authorized by the judiciary," stated the Federal Police in a note. The Federal Police identified the involvement of five groups: Disinformation and Electoral System Attack Group; Group Responsible for Inciting Military Support for the Coup; Legal Group; Operational Support Group for Coup Actions; Parallel Intelligence Group; Operational Group for Enforcing Coercive Measures In the morning, columnist Míriam Leitão reported that Bolsonaro's accusation on Thursday would involve dozens of individuals under investigation for the coup, including Braga Neto, Heleno, and Ramagem. Investigation details During the investigation, the Federal Police found that under Bolsonaro's leadership, Armed Forces officers, government ministers, and advisors participated in meetings where they discussed the possibility of a coup d'état, which, according to the Federal Police, did not materialize because it lacked approval from the then-commanders of the Army and Air Force. General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, leaders of the respective forces, testified to the Federal Police as witnesses and implicated the former president in the plan. The nature of the testimonies aligned with the statements given by Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who was Bolsonaro's aide-de-camp and cooperated with the Federal Police during the investigations. The military officer reached a plea agreement authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes in September of the previous year. Bolsonaro has not commented on the accusation, but on previous occasions, he denied involvement in an attempt to disrupt the institutional order. In an interview with GLOBO two weeks ago, he stated that discussions took place about declaring a state of siege in the country but claimed that "discussing the Constitution is not a crime." However, General Freire Gomes indicated that Bolsonaro discussed drafting coup proposals in meetings with the military leadership. The documents outlined actions to prevent Lula's inauguration, such as implementing a Law and Order Guarantee (GLO) and decreeing a State of Defense and a State of Siege concerning the Superior Electoral Court. One of the key meetings under Federal Police scrutiny occurred at the Alvorada Palace on December 7, 2022, during the final days of the previous administration. In addition to Freire Gomes, the meeting was attended by the then-commander of the Navy, Almir Garnier Santos, and the then-presidential advisor for International Affairs, Filipe Martins. Martins allegedly read the coup proposal during the meeting, and Garnier expressed support for the then-president. Documents and studies were later found on the former aide-de-camp's cell phone, including one titled "Armed Forces as a Moderating Power." Garnier, Martins, and Cid were also named in the Federal Police report. According to the Federal Police, the former commanders of the Army and Air Force were targets of personal attacks for refusing to participate in the coup plan. Former Defense and Chief of Staff Minister General Walter Braga Netto was identified as one of the Bolsonaro administration members who ordered criticism of the military. He was also accused by the Federal Police. Braga Netto was implicated for sending a message to a former Army captain to "spread" attacks against the current Army commander, General Tomás Paiva, five days after Lula's certification as president. Regarding Freire Gomes, Braga Netto referred to the general with derogatory language and demanded his "head be offered." The Federal Police claim there is evidence that Bolsonaro reviewed and requested changes to the coup proposal. His defense has consistently denied that he was involved in "drafting any decree aimed at illegally altering the democratic rule of law." The Federal Police's final conclusions were forwarded to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case. He is expected to submit the document to the Attorney General's Office, which may file charges, request the investigation be archived, or propose further investigative measures. List of those accused: Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros Alexandre Castilho Bitencourt Da Silva Alexandre Rodrigues Ramagem Almir Garnier Santos Amauri Feres Saad Anderson Gustavo Torres Anderson Lima De Moura Angelo Martins Denicoli Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira Bernardo Romao Correa Netto Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha Carlos Giovani Delevati Pasini Cleverson Ney Magalhães Estevam Cals Theophilo Gaspar De Oliveira Fabrício Moreira De Bastos Filipe Garcia Martins Fernando Cerimedo Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues Guilherme Marques De Almeida Hélio Ferreira Lima Jair Messias Bolsonaro José Eduardo De Oliveira E Silva Laercio Vergilio Marcelo Bormevet Marcelo Costa Câmara Mario Fernandes Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid Nilton Diniz Rodrigues Paulo Renato De Oliveira Figueiredo Filho Paulo Sérgio Nogueira De Oliveira Rafael Martins De Oliveira Ronald Ferreira De Araujo Junior Sergio Ricardo Cavaliere De Medeiros Tércio Arnaud Tomaz Valdemar Costa Neto Walter Souza Braga Netto Wladimir Matos Soares The translation of this text into english was carried out by Project Irineu, O GLOBO's initiative to develop artificial intelligence tools. Here is the link to the original report.