Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, testifying for the first time before the nation’s Supreme Court, has denied involvement in an alleged coup plot to remain in power and overturn the 2022 election result that he lost to current leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro, 70, and seven of his close allies were questioned by a panel of top judges on Tuesday as part of a trial over allegations that they devised a multi-step scheme to keep Bolsonaro in office despite his defeat to Lula.
Bolsonaro and his co-defendants risk prison sentences of up to 40 years in a trial dubbed “historic” – the first ever for an attempted coup under a democratic government in Brazil.
“That’s not the case, your honour,” Bolsonaro replied on Tuesday when asked by Judge Alexandre de Moraes – an arch political foe – about “the truthfulness” of the accusations against him.
“There was never any talk of a coup. A coup is an abominable thing … Brazil couldn’t go through an experience like that. And there was never even the possibility of a coup in my government,” Bolsonaro claimed.
Bolsonaro began his testimony “as if he were on an electoral campaign,”
The plot only failed, the charge sheet says, due to a clear lack of military backing.
Bolsonaro, a former military officer himself who has been known to express nostalgia for the country’s past military dictatorship, openly defied Brazil’s judicial system during his 2019-2022 term in office.
On Monday, Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man Mauro Cid – a co-defendant who has turned state’s witness – told the court Bolsonaro had “received and read” a draft decree for the declaration of a state of emergency.
He then “edited” the document, which would have paved the way for measures to “redo the election” and also envisaged the imprisonment of top personalities including Moraes, said Cid.
Cid also testified that he had received cash in a wine crate from Bolsonaro’s former running mate and Defence Minister Walter Braga Netto that investigators say was earmarked to finance an operation by special troops to kill Lula, his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Moraes.
‘My conscience is clear’
Apart from Cid, the other co-defendants are four ex-ministers and the former heads of Brazil’s navy and intelligence agency.
Most who have taken the stand so far have rejected the bulk of the accusations in the charge sheet. The defendants are standing trial on five counts: attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.
A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. When combined with the other charges, the accused could be sentenced to up to 40 years behind bars.
Two former army commanders have claimed Bolsonaro hosted a meeting where the declaration of a state of emergency was discussed as a means of overturning Lula’s election victory.
Bolsonaro has denied all the charges, saying he is the target of political and media persecution.
“He said he was being persecuted by the press because he was elected independently of a political establishment and also because he had a conservative agenda, an anti-woke agenda,” said Yanakiew.
He has already been banned in a separate court ruling from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and casting unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system. However, he is still hoping to run in the 2026 presidential elections.
“They have nothing to convict me; my conscience is clear,” the former leader told reporters on Monday.
Almir Garnier, who was Brazilian Navy commander under Bolsonaro, denied the former president had discussed the declaration of a state of emergency with military officials.
He also denied offering Bolsonaro any Navy troops.
The Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia was one of the targets of a rioting mob of supporters known as “Bolsonaristas” – who raided government buildings in January 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula, an insurrection attempt that evoked the supporters of Bolsonaro ally United States President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.