The First Panel of the STF will define as of Tuesday, 25, whether to accept the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which would make Bolsonaro and seven other people defendants. The former president Bolsonaro asked that “God enlighten” the ministers, that justice be done and that the trial serve as the beginning of the pacification of the country.
“I have good lawyers and they will at first explain the technicality. My forum is the first instance. A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court said that it is the last instance. Even so, in the last instance, it would have to be [judged by] the entire plenary,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with the Inteligência Ltda podcast.
The 1st Tuma of the STF is made up of five ministers of the Court: Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the coup attempt process, Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia and Luiz Fux. Only Moraes was not nominated by the PT but by Michel Temer, however, Moraes has already made clear his “persecution” of Bolsonaro and Lula’s opponents.
Bolsonaro also questioned the validity of Cid’s plea bargain, one of the elements used by the PGR to support the accusation that the former president and his entourage tried to carry out a coup d’état after the 2022 election. According to Bolsonaro, Cid did not present evidence to prove what he said in his testimonies.
“This plea bargain is riddled with illegalities. There is no spontaneity, there was interference from the minister. Alexandre de Moraes threatening a person: ‘look, your father, your wife and your daughter’. Think about what you’re going to say. A judge cannot participate in a plea bargain,” added the former president. One of the benefits that Cid asked for to denounce Bolsonaro was that his family members would not be prosecuted.
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What are the next steps if the First Panel of the STF ?
The former president also denied having met with commanders of the Armed Forces in search of support for the coup, as pointed out by the PGR and Cid in his testimony. According to the version presented by Bolsonaro, the meeting aimed to discuss “constitutional provisions” in the face of dissatisfaction with the performance of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), including a state of siege, a state of defense, the operation of the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) and federal intervention.
The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, tipped to succeed Bolsonaro in the 2026 election, reinforced the former chief’s argument by stating that the state of defense was also discussed by former President Dilma Rousseff (PT) with the commander of the Army before she was impeached in 2016.
“This discussion has already taken place in the past. Back then they gave up, they didn’t take the lead, as in this case it wasn’t the front either. The president Bolsonaro designated the Minister of the Civil House to make the transition to the new government, giving access to all information and within normality,” said Tarcísio.
This Tuesday’s judgment analyzes the opening of criminal proceedings against eight of the 34 accused by the Attorney General’s Office appointed by Lula. The complaint was sliced into “nuclei” of judgment to be faster and Bolsonaro has already entered the first panel.
The first of these “nuclei” to be tried includes the former president and politicians close to Bolsonaro, as well as high-ranking military personnel. They are Walter Braga Netto (former Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff).
Augusto Heleno (former minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet), Alexandre Ramagem (former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency), Anderson Torres (former Minister of Justice), Almir Garnier (former commander of the Navy), Paulo Sérgio Nogueira (former Minister of Defense) and Mauro Cid (former aide-de-camp to the Presidency).
