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Brazil's supreme court schedules Bolsonaro trial

  • : Agriculture, Crude oil, Natural gas, Oil products
  • 25/08/15

Brazil's supreme court (STF) has set 2-12 September as the trial date for former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of plotting a coup after his 2022 electoral defeat.

Bolsonaro will stand trial with seven other defendants, including his running mate in the 2022 election Walter Braga Netto; former minister and army general Augusto Heleno; former justice minister Anderson Torres; former defense minister Paulo Sergio Nogueira; and top Bolsonaro aide Mauro Cid.

The former president is currently under house arrest for failing to comply with STF orders, such as not posting to social media.

Bolsonaro is the "main orchestrator and biggest beneficiary" of a plot to make sure that he stayed in power despite losing the election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, attorney general Paulo Gonet said. The plot included the 8 January 2023 storming of government buildings in the capital Brasilia and plans to kill his political opponents. Also as part of the plot, Bolsonaro used the power of the state and operated in a "persistent scheme" to attack public institutions and the succession process after the presidential election results, Gonet said.

Bolsonaro's trial gained a new spotlight after US president Donald Trump used it in part to justify the 50pc tariffs imposed on Brazilian products. Trump has called the trial a "witch hunt".

The sanctions and the trial have strained the two countries' relationship. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control added Alexandre de Moraes, a top judge in the trial, to its list of specially designated nationals under the Magnitsky Act.

If convicted, Bolsonaro can face about 40 years in jail.


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