George Wright and Leonardo Rocha, Americas regional editor
BBC News
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged by the country’s chief prosecutor with attempting a coup after he was defeated in the 2022 presidential election.
The 69-year-old was handed five charges over the alleged bid to prevent his successor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from taking office after a bitter election race.
The charges include allegations that he planned to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing and says he is the victim of political persecution.
The prosecutor’s advice will now be considered by the Supreme Court. If accepted, Bolsonaro and 33 others will be formally charged and will have to face trial.
The former president was banned from running for office for eight years after being accused of undermining Brazilian democracy by falsely claiming that electronic ballots used in the October 2022 poll were vulnerable to hacking and fraud.
The bitterly fought election was won by an extremely narrow margin by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – known more commonly as Lula.
Bolsonaro never publicly acknowledged his defeat and left Brazil for the US two days before Lula was sworn in as president.
On 8 January 2023, his supporters stormed government buildings in the capital Brasilia. Parts of the buildings were ransacked and police arrested 1,500 of the rioters.
Three months ago, the federal police released a report accusing Bolsonaro of playing a lead role in planning and organising an attempted coup – including by proposing the idea to key figures in the military – to stop Lula taking power.
The document charging Bolsonaro says the responsibility for acts that were harmful to democratic order lies with a criminal organisation led by Bolsonaro himself.
In practice, this means legal proceedings are beginning and Bolsonaro will likely face a trial.
One of the charges is for the crime of “armed criminal organisation”, allegedly led by Bolsonaro and his vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto.
The alleged plot included a plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of Bolsonaro’s rivals, Attorney-General Paulo Gonet Branco said.
“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,” he said.
Brazilian media reports that the Supreme Court is expected to proceed with the trial later this year.
Reaction to the prosecutor’s decision shows that the divisions that have marked Brazilian politics for the past decade remain as deep as ever.
Government supporters are celebrating and saying the former president belongs in jail, while the opposition insist he’s innocent.
The focus now is on the impact the Supreme Court decision will have on next year’s presidential election. Recent opinion polls show record levels of rejection for President Lula.
Despite being banned from running for office, Bolsonaro remains a strong political force in Brazil and could use the trial as a platform for his agenda.
