Former minister Onyx Lorenzoni (PP-RS) published, this Monday the 1st, a message in defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro on his profile on the social media platform X, who will be judged, even without privileged forum, on Tuesday the 2nd, alongside 7 other defendants for an alleged attempt at a coup d’état. “Tomorrow begins the most important trial in Brazil’s recent history. But don’t be fooled: it is not Jair Bolsonaro who will be in the dock. It is our democracy,” wrote Lorenzoni.
The trial at the Supreme Court will be led by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who was sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act for human rights violations, with Justice Cristiano Zanin, former lawyer of Lula, responsible for getting him out of jail, presiding over the sessions of the court. The case represents a milestone in the country’s legal history, as it will be the first time the Supreme Court judges a former president of the Republic accused of allegedly attempting to promote a coup d’état, while in Brazil and in the U.S., without weapons and an army. The Supreme Court is supposed to judge only people with privileged jurisdiction, that is, public office holders, which is not the case for Bolsonaro who is a former president.
READ MORE: Moraes’ parallel cabinet celebrated Lula’s victory in 2022….
Lorenzoni also questioned the legitimacy of the process in his publication. “A political trial, with no crime and no evidence, with the sole aim of imprisoning and removing the greatest opposition leader to the system from the elections,” he stated.
During Jair Bolsonaro’s government, Onyx Lorenzoni led 4 distinct areas: he was the Minister of the Civil House from January 2019 to February 2020, then took over the Ministry of Citizenship until February 2021, when he headed the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic until July of the same year, and ended his participation in the government at the helm of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, a position he held from July 2021 to March 2022.
