In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro “actively participated” in planned coup in 2022, police report says

Former far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro “participated actively” to a planned coup d'état aimed at preventing the return to power of his left-wing successor Lula after the 2022 election, according to a police report published Tuesday.

The former head of state (2019-2022) also had “fully conscious” of an alleged plan to assassinate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to this report of more than 800 pages, which calls for the indictment of Mr. Bolsonaro and thirty-six other people, most of them military personnel. The report was submitted to the public prosecutor's office and it is up to the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, to decide whether or not to initiate proceedings.

“The evidence obtained throughout the investigations showed unequivocally that Jair Bolsonaro planned (…) and took direct and effective part in the actions of a criminal organization whose objective was a coup d'état which did not take place due to circumstances going against its will.”details the police report.

“Political persecution”

Jair Bolsonaro, 69, has always proclaimed his innocence and has repeatedly said he is a victim of “political persecution”. “The term “coup d’état” has never been part of my lexicon”he said at a press conference on Monday. But investigators assure that Mr. Bolsonaro had “fully conscious” and had “participated actively” to “clandestine acts aimed at abolishing the democratic rule of law”.

According to the report, the former head of state was aware of the “Green Dagger” operation which aimed to assassinate Lula, his elected vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes after the failure of the far-right leader's re-election attempt.

Last week, a police operation linked to this vast investigation resulted in the arrest of four soldiers and a police officer, suspected of having fomented this triple assassination plan, which was supposed to have been carried out before the inauguration of the current left-wing president, the 1^is January 2023.