Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged by the country’s chief prosecutor with attempting a coup after he was defeated in the 2022 presidential election.
The 69-year-old was handed five charges over the alleged bid to prevent his successor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from taking office after a bitter election race.
The charges include allegations that he planned to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing and says he is the victim of political persecution.
The prosecutor’s advice will now be considered by the Supreme Court. If accepted, Bolsonaro and 33 others will be formally charged and will have to face trial.
The former president was banned from running for office for eight years after being accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that electronic ballots used in the October 2022 poll were vulnerable to hacking and fraud.
The bitterly fought election was won by an extremely narrow margin by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – known more commonly as Lula.
Bolsonaro never publicly acknowledged his defeat and left Brazil for the US two days before Lula was sworn in as president.
On 8 January 2023, his supporters stormed government buildings in the capital Brasilia. Parts of the buildings were ransacked and police arrested 1,500 of the rioters.
Three months ago, the federal police released a report accusing Bolsonaro of playing a lead role in planning and organising an attempted coup – including by proposing the idea to key figures in the military – to stop Lula taking power.
The document charging Bolsonaro says the responsibility for acts that were harmful to democratic order lies with a criminal organisation led by Bolsonaro himself.
Credit: bbc.com
