Brazilian police call for former president Bolsonaro's indictment over 2022 'coup' plot
Brazilian police issued a statement on Thursday calling for the indictment of former president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people for allegedly attempting a coup to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections. Brazil's attorney general will be responsible for determining whether the allegations are substantiated enough to warrant criminal changes being laid.
Brazilian police on Thursday called for the indictment of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro over a 2022 "coup" plot to prevent current leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva taking office.
A police statement said its investigators concluded that Bolsonaro and 36 others planned the "violent overthrow of the democratic state."
"Federal police concluded on Thursday the investigation into the existence of a criminal organization that acted in a coordinated way in 2002 in an attempt to maintain the then-president in power," the statement said.
"The final report has been sent to the Supreme Court with the request that 37 individuals be indicted for the crimes of the violent overthrow of the democratic state, coup d'etat and criminal organization," it said.
The alleged plot was hatched in the final months of Bolsonaro's 2019-2022 presidency.
He says he is innocent and the victim of "persecution."
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
Argentina orders arrest of Brazilian Bolsonaro supporters over 2023 coup bid
Brazil authorities link Supreme Court bomb attack to extremist discourse