Bolsonaro's coup plot trial restarting on Wednesday, 3rd of September, overseen by STF
The Supreme Federal Court (STF) in Brazil is set to resume the judgment of the criminal action related to the alleged coup attempt on September 3. The eight defendants being judged, including former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven allies, are part of what the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) classifies as "nucleus 1" of the alleged plot.
Attorney General Paulo Gonet has cited the meeting of Bolsonaro with the military commanders as evidence of the alleged coup plot. He defended that the coup attempt did not require a signed order from the president. The PGR points out that the coup plan involves 24 accused, organized in three distinct nuclei, according to the role played.
Gonet claimed that the cooperation between the accused had 'coordination, inspiration, and determination' from former President Bolsonaro, implying a criminal organization. However, the defense of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp to Bolsonaro, denied that the military was coerced into testifying. Cid's lawyers also defended the Federal Police and Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
Lawyer Cezar Bittencourt argued that Mauro Cid never elaborated, shared, or incited any coup content. He stated that there is not even a single message from Mauro Cid's authorship proposing, encouraging, or validating any attack against democracy or the electoral system.
Ramagem, as a parliamentarian, only responds for the crimes of alleged coup attempt, violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law, and armed criminal organization. The eight defendants were accused of the crimes of violent abolition of the democratic state of law, coup d'état, criminal organization, qualified damage to the Union's heritage, and deterioration of heritage under protection.
The lawyers of Alexandre Ramagem, Almir Garnier, and Anderson Torres contested the accusations presented by the PGR. Lawyer Jair Pereira asked for the benefit of leniency for Mauro Cid. The expectation is that the judgment will last five days.
In his opening statement, Minister Alexandre de Moraes affirmed that the sovereignty of Brazil cannot and should not be "vilified, negotiated, and extorted". He also emphasized that the STF cannot be threatened or pressured. The defense of Augusto Heleno, Bolsonaro, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, and Braga Netto will be heard in the morning of September 3.
It is important to note that Paulo Gonet, the Attorney General, has not appeared as a witness before the STF in the past weeks or months. The judgment could lead to the imprisonment of former president Jair Bolsonaro and seven other defendants. The trial resumption promises to be a significant event in Brazilian politics.
