“They wanted a coup d’état”: what is the mega case of the riot against Lula where Brazil tries 1,390 people

On January 8th of this year, supporters of the former Brazilian president JairBolsonaro They assaulted Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília, and invaded the headquarters of Congress, the Presidency and the Federal Supreme Court, in what was considered the most serious attack on democracy in the country. Brazil. Eight months later, the justice system began to hand down the first sentences against those considered coup plotters, in a mega case in which more than 1,300 people are involved.

The violent events occurred eight days after the leftist took office Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawho won the October 2022 elections for Bolsonarowho did not recognize his defeat, just like his most radical followers on the extreme right, who were those who finally promoted the assault on the center of power in Brazil. This case is reminiscent of what happened in the United States in January 2021, when supporters of the president donald trump They stormed the Capitol to prevent Democrat Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the November 2020 election.

TO LOOK: The 10 harshest sentences handed down for the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021

The first convict in Brazil is called Aécio Lúcio Costa Pereira. The Supreme Court found him guilty of illicit association, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’etat, aggravated damage and destruction of protected public property. His sentence, handed down on Thursday, was 17 years in prison.

Members of the Federal Legislative Police stand next to a vehicle that crashed into a fountain while supporters of Jair Bolsonaro invade Congress, on January 8, 2023. (Photo by Sergio Lima/AFP). (SÉRGIO LIMA/)

Costa Pereira He is 51 years old and is from São Paulo. He participated in the invasion of Congress.

The reporting judge Alexandre de Moraes showed a video of the accused inside the Senate Chamber celebrating the invasion.

He was dressed in a t-shirt with motto “federal military intervention” and in a video he published on his social networks he said he would defecate in Congress. He had arrived in the capital by bus with a group called Patriotas.

His lawyers stated that he was not armed and that he did not commit “any violent act”.

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro attack a Military Police vehicle during clashes in front of the Planalto Palace, in Brasília, on January 8, 2023. (Photo by Sergio Lima/AFP). (SÉRGIO LIMA/)

Although his guilt was unanimously recognized, there were strong disagreements among the eleven members of the Supreme Court in relation to the penalties that should be applied and the crimes charged, reported the EFE agency.

In the end, the rapporteur judge’s proposal prevailed Alexandre de Moraeswho suggested that Costa Pereira 17 years in prison for what he described as “coup attack” with “irrational hate”with the “clear objective” of incite “the Armed Forces to overthrow the legitimate Government” of Lula da Silva.

Costa Pereira He must also pay an individual fine and compensation for “collective moral and material damages” of 30 million reais (around US$6 million), along with the other convicts.

Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro destroy a window of the Federal Supreme Court in Brasília on January 8, 2023. (Photo Ton MOLINA / AFP). (TON MOLINA/)

They were then judged Matheus Lima de Carvalho It is Thiago de Assis Matharwho were sentenced to 17 and 14 years in prison, respectively.

About Oakthe judge Moraes He showed messages he sent to his wife in which he advocated “breaking everything” so that “the army could come” into action.

In the case of Thiago de Assis Mathar, his sentence was mitigated because, unlike the other two, he did not encourage the coup on his social networks, the judges noted.

No one was present in the room when the sentences were read, only They followed the trial via videoconference.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office had requested 30 years in prison for the three accused.

In total, Brazilian justice will judge 1,390 people, whose degrees of participation in the riot will be established individually, since Brazilian law does not contemplate “collective responsibilities”, explained EFE.

Of this total, around 130 people have remained in preventive detention since the events occurred.

The assault on the center of power in Brazil. (AFP).

Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the investigating judge Alexandre de Moraes they advanced it They intend to impose exemplary sentences on the most violent. With this, they seek to dissuade anyone who wants to imitate the Bolsonarists who assaulted the Square of the Three Powers.

“We want to show the world that Brazil is no longer a banana republic, that it is a serious rule of law, that coups d’état are a closed page in our history… fake news continues to circulate and we have to clarify [lo ocurrido] once and for all”said the Public Ministry.

January 8th “was no walk in the park. It was a Sunday of devastation, the day of infamy”, lamented the president of the Supreme Court, Rosa Weber.

In addition to invading historic buildings, Protesters broke glass, chairs, tables, valuable works of art and historical furniture.

Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro clash with police during a demonstration in front of the Congress headquarters, on January 8, 2023. (Photo EVARISTO SA / AFP). (EVARISTO SA/)

The day of the coup attack JairBolsonaro I was in the United States. He had traveled to that country before Lula took office.

The three convicted last week are part of the group 232 defendants accused of the most serious crimes.

For now, former president Bolsonaro appears under investigation for his alleged role as instigator of the riot.

The trials of those accused of direct aggression against the powers of the State will be followed by the trials of intellectual authorsO financiers and the authorities who did not fulfill their duties and did not stop him.

Among these is the entire leadership of the Brasília Military Police, who was recently arrested and jailed. Furthermore, his boss, Anderson Torres, who was Bolsonaro’s Justice Minister, is on probation.

There are also around 1,000 Bolsonarist cases in the Public Ministry’s sights for the application of fines and social contributions if it reaches an agreement with them instead of initiating criminal proceedings against them.

The EFE agency highlighted that the accusation of “coup d’etat” presented by the Public Ministry sparked a strong debate between judges André Mendonça and Kassio Nunes Marques and the other nine members of the court. The first two reached the Supreme Court after being proposed by Bolsonaro.

Mendonça and Nunes Marques rejected this accusation, arguing that the coup was not completed and that the January 8th vandals “did not have the strength” to overthrow the Lula Government.

André Mendonça He defended Bolsonaro’s thesis and said that there were “inexplicable” security failures on the part of the Government that “facilitated” the vandals’ actions. He further said that the proceedings should be held in lower courts and not in the country’s highest court.

Alexandre de Moraes He described the approaches of his two colleagues as “absurd”.

While the rector of the court, Gilmar Mendes, asked the more conservative judges “not to ignore the context in which the facts occurred”, preceded by protests at the doors of the military barracks demanding to prevent Lula from taking office on January 1, 2023.

Mendes compared what happened in Brazil with what happened in assault on the Capitol of the United States on January 6, 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump. “It was the same thing that happened in the United States,” he said.

Source: Elcomercio