On Saturday, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro responded to accusations leveled against him by former army commanders that he had tried to carry out a coup to overturn his defeat in the 2022 elections.
The response comes after the results of a security investigation emerged, in which former military officials spoke.
Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist, said he was not afraid to be put on trial. Bolsonaro did not directly refer to statements made by two army commanders that he had summoned them to discuss a possible coup to prevent leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from returning to power.
“I do not fear any trial, as long as the judges are impartial,” Bolsonaro said during a political rally in Rio de Janeiro to support his candidate for the position of mayor of the city in the local elections that will be held next October.
Investigators confirmed that they found that Bolsonaro drafted a coup declaration administered by senior military officials at a meeting held on December 7, 2022, that is, three weeks before President-elect Lula da Silva was sworn in.
In his statement to the police, former army commander Marco Antonio Freire Gomez admitted that he participated in a meeting at Bolsonaro's presidential residence in Brasilia, where an adviser explained the legal basis for the planned coup.
For his part, former Air Force Commander Almeida Batista Jr. told investigators that Bolsonaro pressured him to continue searching for “mechanisms” to prevent Lula da Silva from taking the oath again.
Batista believed that the coup could have occurred had it not been for Freire Gomez's tough stance.
Bolsonaro was among those who were asked to testify in this investigation, but he refused to answer questions during his interrogation at the Federal Police headquarters last month, and he also denied the accusations against him. The former president left for the US state of Florida following his defeat in the elections. Days later, his supporters stormed government buildings.
Last year, Bolsonaro was banned from running for any elected office for eight years due to his abuse of his previous power as president and his constant criticism of the country's electoral system. The Supreme Court may order his arrest and referral to trial.
“I hope to continue political work,” Bolsonaro said during Saturday’s rally.
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