Brazil's Bolsonaro to take the stand in coup trial

 

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (L) and Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas attend an Independence day rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 7, 2024. [AFP]

Brazil's right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro will take the stand next week in his trial on charges of trying to stage a coup to retain power after an election loss, as the proceedings enter a new phase.

Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes on Monday ordered "the questioning of the accused" -- Bolsonaro and others in "an in-person session" starting next Monday and running to Friday at the latest.

Bolsonaro faces a sentence of up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors say Brazil's president from 2019-2022 led a "criminal organisation" plotting to undo the presidential election victory in 2022 of his leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The plot failed, the charge sheet says, because of a lack of military backing.

Bolsonaro also stands accused of being aware of a plot to assassinate Lula, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and judge Moraes -- an arch-foe.

The court has heard from dozens of witnesses for the prosecution and defence, including senior military officials, former ministers, police officers, and intelligence officials in hearings that started last month.

Bolsonaro, 70, denies any role in a coup attempt and claims to be a victim of political persecution.

Two former military commanders have told the court that Bolsonaro had presented them with a plan to prevent Lula from taking power. Both refused to go along.

Former army commander General Marco Antonio Freire Gomes testified he had attended a meeting with Bolsonaro at the presidential residence in December 2022, where the declaration of a "state of siege" was discussed as a means of justifying military intervention after Lula's election victory.

"I warned him (Bolsonaro) that he could have serious problems, with judicial implications," Gomes told the court.

For his part, former air force chief Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior said he had threatened to have Bolsonaro arrested if he carried out plans to oust Lula.

For the defence, Bolsonaro's infrastructure minister Tarcisio de Freitas, told the trial his boss had "never touched" on the subject of a coup or "mentioned any attempt at constitutional disruption."

And Senator Ciro Nogueira, who had served as Bolsonaro's chief of staff, testified the former president had "under no circumstances" demonstrated coup intentions.

'Last hope'

The hearings have also examined the riots of January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters sacked key government buildings demanding a military intervention to oust Lula, a week after his inauguration.

Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time, but is suspected of having been behind the riots prosecutors say were the coup plotters' "last hope."

Next week's hearings will see the accused take turns in the stand -- seven defendants, including Bolsonaro -- as well as an eighth, former aide Mauro Cid, who has turned state's witness.

Bolsonaro, who recently underwent abdominal surgery to treat problems arising from a 2018 knife attack, has said a conviction in the case would amount to a "death penalty -- political and physical."

He had repeatedly stated his intention to seek the presidency again in elections next year, despite a ban on him holding office until 2030 over his baseless criticism of Brazil's electronic voting system.

Bolsonaro remains the most popular politician on the right of the political spectrum in an ideologically deeply divided country.

Next week's examination of the accused will be followed by a summation from prosecutors and final arguments by defence attorneys.

It could be months before the five-member court gives a final ruling.

Several former Brazilian presidents have had legal entanglements since the end of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, but Bolsonaro is the first to face coup charges.