One of the accused men is a federal police officer and the other four are army officers trained in special operations, one of whom is an ex brigadier general.
Brazil’s federal police say they have arrested five people over an attempted coup in late 2022, in which they allegedly planned to kill Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva shortly before he took office as president.
One of the accused men is a federal police officer, Wladimir Matos Soares, and the other four are army officers trained in special operations, one of whom is retired Brig. Gen. Mário Fernandes, who served as interim general secretary in Bolsonaro’s Cabinet from Oct. 2020 until Dec. 2022.
Lula, a 79-year-old socialist, won the Brazilian presidential election in Oct. 2022 but it is claimed the plotters intended to assassinate him, his running mate Geraldo Alckmin, and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes.
De Moraes himself authorized the arrests and said, “The objective was to prevent the inauguration of the legitimately elected government and undermine the free exercise of democracy and the authority of Brazil’s judiciary.”
‘Broader Plan’ For Coup
“These actions, peaking between November and December 2022, were part of a broader plan to carry out a coup d’état,” he added.
According to information about the police investigation in the judge’s order, seen by the Associated Press, detectives found evidence Fernandes outlined a plan to kill Lula and Alckmin and visited protest camps outside military bases, including at the army headquarters in Brasilia.
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According to the police document, Fernandes also considered different scenarios, including using explosives or poison at an official event, to assassinate de Moraes.
But there is no evidence of an attempt to assassinate Lula, Alckmin or de Moraes was ever put into motion, said the police document.
‘It’s Not A Crime’
Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator and the former president’s son, said, “as repugnant as it is to think about killing someone, it’s not a crime.”
The federal police said they had carried out three search warrants, confiscated the suspects’ passports and prevented them from contacting associates. None of the five have so far been charged with any offenses.
Lula, who was president between 2003 and 2011, returned for a third, non-consecutive term, after narrowly defeating the conservative incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.
Bolsonaro cast doubt on the election results, never conceded defeat and left for the United States days shortly before Lula was inaugurated on Jan. 1, 2023.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 2022 election, Bolsonaro supporters staged nationwide protests in which they challenged the results, blocked roads and camped outside military bases.
The federal police claim there is evidence Fernandes gave instructions and financial support to the protesters.
On Jan. 8, 2023 thousands of demonstrators stormed government buildings in the capital of Brasilia, seeking to oust Lula.
But they were prevented by the armed forces, who remained loyal to the new president.
The dead man, Francisco Wanderley Luiz, 59, lost a race for city council in Rio do Sul, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, in 2020.
The director of the federal police, Andrei Passos Rodrigues, said they were treating last week’s incident as terrorism.
Protesters, supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, on Jan. 8, 2023. Eraldo Peres/AP Photo
A former labor leader who helped establish the left-wing Workers’ Party, Lula was elected to Brazil’s Congress in 1986.
He unsuccessfully ran for president three times before winning 20 years ago and serving two terms from 2003 to 2010.
Lula was convicted of corruption and money laundering in 2018 and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
He was released after only 18 months behind bars when the Supreme Federal Court ruled the judge in his case, Sergio Moro, was biased.
Bolsonaro had often accused the Supreme Court of being biased, and many of the former president’s supporters saw de Moraes as their biggest enemy.
De Moraes led a five-year probe into allegedly fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led to some of Bolsonaro’s allies and supporters being banned from social media and even jailed.
De Moraes also presided over the nation’s top electoral court when it later ruled Bolsonaro ineligible for office until 2030, ruling he had abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the validity of the 2022 election result.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
