Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet formally charged former President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday with attempting a coup to remain in power after his defeat in the 2022 election, reported The Associated Press.
The alleged plot also involved plans to poison his successor, current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
According to Gonet, Bolsonaro and 33 others were part of a scheme to hold onto power. The indictment also includes claims of a plan to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a prominent critic of Bolsonaro.
“The members of the criminal organization structured at the presidential palace a plan to attack institutions, aiming to bring down the system of the powers and the democratic order, which received the sinister name of ‘Green and Yellow Dagger,’" Gonet stated in a 272-page indictment, as quoted by AP. “The plan was conceived and taken to the knowledge of the president, and he agreed to it.”
In November, Brazil's Federal Police submitted an 884-page report to Gonet detailing the alleged scheme. Authorities claim there was a concerted effort to undermine confidence in the electoral system, draft a decree to legitimize the plan, pressure military leaders to support it, and incite riots in the capital.
In addition to charges of attempting a coup, the 34 defendants face accusations of involvement in an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democratic rule, causing damage through violence and threats against state property, and deterioration of protected heritage, according to a statement from the Prosecutor General’s press office.
The Supreme Court will now review the charges, and if they are accepted, Bolsonaro will face trial.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing. “I have no concerns about the accusations, zero,” he told journalists on Tuesday while visiting the Senate in Brasília.
“Have you seen the coup decree, by any chance? You haven’t. Neither have I,” he added.
Prosecutors have blamed Bolsonaro's statements against the country's voting system for a violent invasion of the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in January of 2023 by supporters angry about Bolsonaro’s electoral loss to da Silva.
In June of that year, a Brazilian court barred Bolsonaro from holding public office for eight years.
Bolsonaro was also accused of embezzlement last year, for allegedly misappropriating jewelry he received while head of state, including luxury items given by the Saudi Arabian government.