Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro attended his Supreme Court trial with other accused of an alleged coup to keep him in office after his electoral defeat in 2022, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Eraldo Peres / AP
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Eraldo Peres / AP
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, began to face a counter -examination during a historic trial before the Supreme Court of Brazil, accused of the brain of a conspiracy to organize a coup after failing to be re -elected in 2022.
The far -right populist leader and seven of his former partners are tried in an alleged plan to cling to power after Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential elections to the left candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
It marks the first time in Brazilian history that a former head of state is tried for trying to overthrow the government.
The alleged plot included a plan to assassinate or arrest the president elected Lula Da Silva before his inauguration on January 1, 2023, as well as vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and the judge of the Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes. The intrigue, known as “Operation Green and Yellow Dagger”, would have been coordinated by encrypted messages and included monitoring of Moraes.
The hearings also plunged into January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government’s buildings, calling for a military coup a week after the inauguration of Lula.
A panel of five justice at the Supreme Court of Brazil in Brasilia has heard the testimonies of high -ranking military and political personalities for more than two weeks now, with more than 80 witnesses who should present themselves during the trial. This week, the eight accused – including Bolsonaro – take up position, with a former assistant, the lieutenant -colonel of the army Mauro Cid, now cooperating as a key witness.
The alleged plot was revealed last November, when investigators from the Federal Police published an 884 -page report detailing a plan developed to dismantle the democracy of Brazil.
The eight accused, including Bolsonaro, are called “Nucleus 1” for their central role in the alleged intrigue and include four of the former Bolsonaro ministers. Men are accused of five counts, in particular “violent abolition of the rule of democratic law”, promoting a “coup” and “deterioration of the listed heritage” – a reference to the general destruction of government buildings by rioters in Brasilia on January 8.
The first witness to take a stand this week was Cid, the former right man of Bolsonaro, who testified on Monday more than four hours. Cid, who whistled on the alleged couplios plot, said Bolsonaro had revised and published the coup d’etat project. Alexandre Ramagem, the former head of the Brazil intelligence agency, denied having spied on the authorities.
A former army captain, Bolsonaro, 70, testifies before the Moraes judge, who heads the trial. De Moraes has become a polarizing figure, faced with criticism from Bolsonaro and his allies – including Elon Musk and President Donald Trump – because of his repression against disinformation and alleged censorship.
While Bolsonaro takes a position, the courtroom will be a battlefield not only for legal responsibility but also for the broader ideological conflict between democratic institutions and populist forces in the country. The trial, broadcast live on television and internet channels of the judiciary, is considered a pivotal moment in the democratic history of Brazil, 61 years after the 1964 coup which established a bloody 21 -year -old military dictatorship.
Bolsonaro has already been forbidden to run for the elections until 2030, but enjoys a great political influence at Congress and Popularity. If he is found guilty, he could incur up to 40 years in prison. The former president has always denied the accusations. During a break before the court on Monday, he told journalists that he was not preparing for prison because there was “no reason to condemn him”. “I have a clear conscience,” he said.
