Bolsonaro was engineer of 'wilful coup attempt', Brazil congress inquiry alleges
Source: The Guardian
Bolsonaro was engineer of ‘wilful coup attempt’, Brazil congress inquiry alleges
Congressional investigation into failed rightwing insurrection on 8 January calls for former president to be charged with four crimes
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Tue 17 Oct 2023 17.52 BST
First published on Tue 17 Oct 2023 16.11 BST
Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was the mentor of “a wilful and premeditated coup attempt” that sought to plunge Latin America’s largest democracy into political mayhem and perhaps even civil war, a congressional inquiry investigating the 8 January insurrection has alleged.
The dramatic assertion was made on Tuesday as the senator Eliziane Gama read the inquiry’s final report into January’s failed rightwing uprising in which thousands of radical Bolsonaro supporters rampaged through the capital, Brasília, after their leader failed to win re-election.
But experts are doubtful the report – considered politically symbolic rather than crucial to any future prosecution – will have immediate legal consequences for the former president and his allies.
The congressional committee does not itself have the power to charge suspects. Instead, its findings will be presented to the attorney general who will consider what action to take, if any.
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Read more: https://archive.li/dSYt0
Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/17/bolsonaro-brazil-coup-report
