Brazil prosecutor charges former president Bolsonaro over failed coup plot

Brazil’s attorney general formally charges far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others over an alleged coup attempt after his 2022 election loss.

Bolsonaro, 69, and his co-accused are hit with five charges over the alleged bid to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after a bitter election race.

Attorney General Paulo Gonet Branco files the charges at the Supreme Court “based on manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of messages that reveal the scheme to disrupt the democratic order,” his office says in a statement.

“They describe, in detail, the conspiratorial plot set up and executed against democratic institutions.”

One of the charges is for the crime of “armed criminal organization,” allegedly led by Bolsonaro and his vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto.

“Allied with other individuals, including civilians and military personnel, they attempted to prevent, in a coordinated manner, the result of the 2022 presidential elections from being fulfilled,” reads the statement.

The prosecutor’s office based its decision on a federal police report of more than 800 pages, released last year after a two-year investigation which found Bolsonaro was “fully aware and actively participated” in the plot to cling to power.

Bolsonaro has denied the accusations and says he is the victim of “persecution.”