Four men convicted for plotting to assassinate President Lula
The events surrounding the 2022 presidential election continue to occupy the Brazilian judiciary .
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court sentenced four co-defendants in the trial against former President Jair Bolsonaro to lengthy prison terms for a plot to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva .
The three military personnel and a police officer were found guilty of plotting Lula’s assassination as part of a coup attempt in favor of his far-right predecessor, Bolsonaro, Judge Alexandre de Moraes explained in his verdict. Bolsonaro was sentenced to a long prison term in September.
He stated that, in addition to plotting to murder Lula, Lieutenant Colonels Rodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo, Rafael Martins de Oliveira and Hélio Ferreira Lima, as well as police officer Vladimir Matos Soares, had also developed “a plan to neutralize Brazilian authorities”.
The four men received prison sentences ranging from 21 to 24 years. They can appeal the verdict. They will only have to begin serving their sentences after all legal remedies have been exhausted.
The coup failed due to resistance from the army.
Bolsonaro, who is barred from holding any political office until 2030 due to a previous conviction, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September. He has been under house arrest since August due to the risk of flight. The Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of leading a “criminal organization” that sought to overturn his 2022 election defeat to Lula. In addition to Bolsonaro, 14 of his former close associates have been convicted in recent months.
Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government district in Brasília on January 8, 2023. They attacked and vandalized the parliament, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace. The scenes of violence were reminiscent of the attack by supporters of Donald Trump on the Capitol in Washington two years earlier.
According to the Brazilian public prosecutor’s office, the coup attempt failed at the time only due to a lack of support from the military leadership. The prosecution also accused Bolsonaro of knowing about plans to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Constitutional Court Justice Moraes.
According to Attorney General Paulo Gonet, the four men now convicted had “taken on the task” of “neutralizing” Lula, Alckmin, and Moraes. They were reportedly members of an elite unit of the Brazilian army.
