Former far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is accused of having “actively participated” in a planned coup aimed at preventing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his elected left-wing successor, from taking office. in 2022.
A police report, published Tuesday and running more than 800 pages, claims that Jair Bolsonaro was also informed of a plan called “Green Dagger”, which included the assassination of Lula, his vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and the judge of the Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes.
Towards an indictment of the former president
The document, submitted to Attorney General Paulo Gonet, recommends the indictment of Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other individuals, the vast majority of them military personnel. According to this report, evidence shows that the former president “planned […] and took direct and effective part in the actions of a criminal organization seeking to overthrow the democratic rule of law. He specifies that the coup did not take place “due to circumstances going against his will”.
Regarding Operation Green Dagger, the report said it aimed to assassinate the political figures mentioned after Bolsonaro’s failure to win re-election. This project should have been executed before Lula’s inauguration on January 1, 2023. Last week, the investigation led to the arrest of four soldiers and a police officer involved in this triple assassination plan.
Categorical rejection of Jair Bolsonaro
Jair Bolsonaro categorically rejects the accusations. During a press conference on Monday, he denounced “political persecution” against him and declared: “The term ‘coup d’état’ has never been part of my lexicon. »
However, investigators believe that the former president was “fully aware” of the “clandestine acts aimed at abolishing the democratic rule of law”. The decision whether or not to prosecute Jair Bolsonaro and the other defendants now rests in the hands of the attorney general.
Swiss
