Bolsonaro was engineer of 'wilful coup attempt', Brazil congress inquiry alleges

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Bolsonaro was engineer of ‘wilful coup attempt’, Brazil congress inquiry alleges

Congressional investigation into failed rightwing insurrection on 8 January calls for former president to be charged with four crimes

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Tue 17 Oct 2023 17.52 BST
First published on Tue 17 Oct 2023 16.11 BST

Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was the mentor of “a wilful and premeditated coup attempt” that sought to plunge Latin America’s largest democracy into political mayhem and perhaps even civil war, a congressional inquiry investigating the 8 January insurrection has alleged.

The dramatic assertion was made on Tuesday as the senator Eliziane Gama read the inquiry’s final report into January’s failed rightwing uprising in which thousands of radical Bolsonaro supporters rampaged through the capital, Brasília, after their leader failed to win re-election.

But experts are doubtful the report – considered politically symbolic rather than crucial to any future prosecution – will have immediate legal consequences for the former president and his allies.

The congressional committee does not itself have the power to charge suspects. Instead, its findings will be presented to the attorney general who will consider what action to take, if any.

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Read more: https://archive.li/dSYt0

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/17/bolsonaro-brazil-coup-report

[Judi Lynn]

1. 'Coup author': Bolsonaro found to have plotted uprising that led to riots

By Daniel Carvalho
October 18, 2023 — 3.05pm

Brasilia: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro should face criminal charges for plotting a coup d’etat in response to his 2022 election defeat, the senator leading a congressional probe into January 8 riots that ransacked the capital said in an official report released on Wednesday (AEDT).

Senator Eliziane Gama, the investigation’s rapporteur, also recommended Bolsonaro’s indictment on three other charges related to the insurrection attempt in Brasilia, during which thousands of the right-wing leader’s supporters stormed major government buildings in a bid to undermine President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s election victory.

Gama’s report is preliminary. Members of the committee, which is made up of legislators from both the lower house of Congress and the Senate, were scheduled to vote on whether to approve its findings on Wednesday. While the committee can recommend charges, Brazilian police will ultimately decide whether to pursue indictments.

The report asserts that Bolsonaro was the “author” of the insurrection attempt, and that top members of his government and senior military officers played a role in the effort to overturn the election result.

More:
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/south-america/coup-author-bolsonaro-found-to-have-plotted-uprising-that-led-to-riots-20231018-p5edbt.html