Top court examines charges against fourth group of coup plotters
The Brazilian Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 6) will begin judging yet another section of the complaint filed by the country’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concerning the coup plot devised under former President Bolsonaro’s government.
This time, the five justices making up the court’s first —Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia, Cristiano Zanin, Flávio Dino, and Luiz Fux—will decide whether to accept the charges targeting seven individuals in the fourth group of coup plotters.
According to the charges, the of this group were responsible for strategic disinformation campaigns to discredit voting machines and the electoral process, as well as persuading agents of the Armed Forces to the plot.
The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) and the Planalto presidential palace are suspected to have been used to advance the plotters’ attempts to generate social instability and intimidate anyone who opposed the coup.
They are all charged with five crimes—armed criminal organization, attempt to violently abolish the democratic state of law, coup d’état, damage aggravated by violence, and serious threat to and deterioration of listed heritage.
The group comprises:
- Ailton Gonçalves Moraes Barros, retired Army major;
- Ângelo Martins Denicoli, retired major;
- Giancarlo Gomes Rodrigues, sub-lieutenant;
- Guilherme Marques de Almeida, lieutenant colonel;
- Reginaldo Vieira de Abreu, colonel;
- Marcelo Araújo Bormevet, federal police officer; and
- Carlos Cesar Moretzsohn Rocha, chair of the Voto Legal Institute.
If the majority of the justices accept the charges, the accused will face a criminal trial before the court. In that case, their defense will be able to point out witnesses, have broader access to the material used by the prosecution, and request the production of new evidence.
On March 25, the first unanimously accepted the charges on all eight of group one, said to have led the plot—including former President Jair Bolsonaro and retired army generals who were high-ranking of his government.
On April 22, the also unanimously accepted the section of the accusation against the six in group two, which includes those accused of having provided legal and intellectual advice for the coup.
The splitting of the complaint into six groups was authorized by the justices of the first . The prosecutor-general justified the move as a way of facilitating the processing of the case about the coup, which targets a total of 34 individuals.
