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In a closely watched trial, two of the five Supreme Court justices deliberating on the charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have found him guilty of plotting a coup.
Mr. Bolsonaro will only be convicted if at least one additional justice agrees with the assessment. The former president has consistently denied all allegations against him.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the first to cast his vote, stated there was “no doubt” that an attempted coup occurred following Mr. Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Justice Flávio Dino, the second to deliver his verdict, also found Mr. Bolsonaro guilty on all five charges. The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.
As the session commences at 09:00 local time (12:00 GMT), attention will be focused on Justice Luiz Fux, who is next in line to cast his vote.
A guilty verdict from Justice Fux would secure the simple majority required to convict the former president.
If convicted, Mr. Bolsonaro, who served as Brazil’s president from January 2019 to December 2022, could face a potential sentence exceeding 40 years in prison.
The statements delivered by the first two justices have presented a compelling case against the former president.
Justice Moraes asserted that Mr. Bolsonaro led the “criminal organization” allegedly responsible for the attempted coup.
Celso Vilardi, Mr. Bolsonaro’s lawyer, expressed disagreement with the justices’ views but affirmed that he would “always respect the decision of the Supreme Court.”
Read: What you need to know about Bolsonaro’s coup plot trial
The former president and his seven co-defendants, some of whom are high-ranking military officials, are accused of attempting to prevent President-elect Lula from assuming office.
All seven co-defendants have also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Justice Moraes stated that significant evidence pointed to a plot to assassinate Mr. Lula, his vice-presidential candidate, and Justice Moraes himself.
Justice Moraes presented a document outlining the plan, codenamed Operation Green and Yellow Dagger, with critical sections highlighted.
“This was written in the Brazilian government headquarters, at the same time that President Jair Bolsonaro was there,” he said, adding that portions of the plan were printed within the presidential palace.
According to investigators, the defendants were unable to garner sufficient support from the military to execute the plan.
However, Justice Moraes contended that the defendants’ efforts culminated in the storming of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on January 8, 2023, just one week after Mr. Lula’s inauguration.
Order was swiftly restored, and over 1,500 individuals were arrested.
Justice Moraes argued that Brazil narrowly avoided a descent into authoritarianism: “We are slowly forgetting that Brazil almost returned to its 20-year dictatorship because a criminal organization, comprised of a political group, doesn’t know how to lose elections.”
“There is no doubt that the defendant, Jair Bolsonaro, held meetings with Armed Forces commanders to discuss the breach of constitutional norms,” Justice Moraes added.
Mr. Bolsonaro was not present in court when Justices Moraes and Dino delivered their guilty verdicts.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s legal team stated that their client was experiencing health issues. The 70-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen during his 2018 campaign and has since faced recurring health problems related to the incident.
His lawyers indicated that he was following the proceedings from his residence in Brasília, where he is currently under house arrest.
Due to his current ban from social media, Mr. Bolsonaro has not commented during the verdict phase of the trial, but he has previously characterized the trial as politically motivated.
The former president claims the trial is designed to prevent him from participating in the 2026 presidential election.
He is already barred from holding public office until 2030 for disseminating unsubstantiated claims about Brazil’s voting system.
The trial has intensified divisions within Brazil, with Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters alleging bias within the five-member panel overseeing the case.
They highlight the fact that one of the justices previously served as President Lula’s personal lawyer, while another served as Mr. Lula’s justice minister.
Conversely, critics of Mr. Bolsonaro argue that Brazil’s institutions must respond decisively to attacks on democracy, pointing to the country’s restoration of democracy in 1985 after two decades of military rule to support their argument.
Agricultural brokers tell the BBC there has been a surge of interest from exporters in trade with China.
The former president is accused of plotting a coup to remain in power after he lost the 2022 election.
Police say they found a letter on the former Brazilian president’s phone requesting asylum in Argentina.
The ex-president’s son Eduardo says Brazil does “not deserve the privilege of the free market”, as his father faces coup charges.
Rescuers searched for hours but concluded that there was no hope of finding the missing employees.
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