Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
remained silent
this Thursday during his summons to the police for his alleged involvement
in a "coup d'état plan"
designed to remain in power after his mandate.
The far-right leader
is suspected of having participated in a conspiracy
that sought to discredit the electoral process and prevent leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming command of Brazil in January of last year.
Bolsonaro defends his innocence and
claims to be the victim of "relentless persecution."
The hearing, lasting half an hour, at the headquarters of the Federal Police in Brasilia,
occurred just three days after a street rally
called by the former president (2019-2022) in São Paulo to repudiate the accusations.
Bolsonaro did not give statements, said his defense, who regretted not having had sufficient access to the content of the process against him.
"The only reason why he used silence was due to the fact that
he is responding today to a semi-secret investigation
," said his lawyer Paulo Cunha, in statements to journalists outside the police headquarters.
Cunha added that his client
"was never in favor of any type of coup movement."
"The former president does not fear anything because he did not commit any crime," he stated.
The investigation led the police to launch Operation Tempus Veritatis (the hour of truth, in Latin) on February 8,
with dozens of raids, confiscation of passports
and arrests around Bolsonaro, who was prohibited from leaving the country.
The far-right leader appeared before the police along with other suspected allies, including several former ministers, in different cities of the country, according to the local press.
It is the sixth time that the former president has gone before the police
to give statements since he left the presidency.
Bolsonaro appeared before the police along with other suspected allies, including several former ministers, in different cities across the country.
Reuters Photo
Last year he appeared for the alleged falsification of vaccination certificates against covid-19, as well as for the irregular entry into Brazil of
valuable jewelry
given by Saudi Arabia.
He also had to testify
on suspicion of instigating the riots on January 8, 2023.
That day, a week after Lula assumed his third term, thousands of Bolsonaristas dissatisfied with the leftist's victory in the October 2022 elections stormed the presidential palace, Congress and the supreme court.
Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time,
denies any incitement of the riot
and rejects that they were part of a preconceived plan.
He even suggested that they were not his followers.
But according to the police, about two months earlier Bolsonaro received and modified a decree in which he planned to arrest the president of the Superior Electoral Court, Alexandre de Moraes, and call new elections.
The file of the alleged coup d'état plan
also contains a video of a meeting held on July 5, 2022
, three months before the elections in which Lula was victorious.
The recording, released by the supreme court on February 9, shows Bolsonaro urging several of his ministers to
launch a campaign against the electronic ballot box system.
"If we react after the elections, it will be chaos in Brazil, a great guerrilla," the far-rightist tells his ministers in the video.
The investigation into the alleged coup plot was ordered by Moraes, in charge of several investigations against the former president and his entourage.
Moraes, also a supreme court judge,
is a constant target of criticism from Bolsonaro.
The defense requested that Moraes be removed from the case, alleging that he lacks "the impartiality necessary to perform his duties."
He also asked to postpone his client's statement to the police.
The supreme court denied both.
Despite numerous investigations since he left the presidency 14 months ago, the 68-year-old former army captain
has remained at the head of the opposition.
And although
in June he was politically disqualified until 2030
for misinformation, on Wednesday he said he was "convinced" that he will be able to reverse that "injustice."
Regarding Sunday's demonstration in São Paulo, he promised that it will be a "peaceful event" to show "Brazil and the world a photograph of green and yellow" - the national colors - and deny the suspicions against him.
Source AP and AFP
P.B.