The complaint by Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR, in Portuguese) sent on Tuesday (18) to the Supreme Court (STF, in Portuguese), presents a list of 34 people indicted by the Federal Police for involvement in the coup attempt that sought to prevent the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party), who won the 2022 presidential elections.
The PGR’s report denounces former president Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party) for attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law, coup d’état and armed criminal organization, qualified damage, serious threat to the public patrimony, and destruction of listed patrimony.
In addition to him, seven other people were listed by the PGR as participants in the “crucial core of the criminal organization” that attacked the democratic rule of law in Brazil. See who they are below:
Alexandre Rodrigues Ramagem (Liberal Party) is a federal deputy in Rio de Janeiro and former director-general of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin, in Portuguese) during Bolsonaro’s government. In 2024, he lost the election for mayor of Rio de Janeiro.
Almir Garnier Santos is a reserve admiral and former commander of the Navy during Bolsonaro’s term. According to Mauro Cid, he was allegedly in favor of the coup and said his troops “would be ready to adhere to a call from the then president.”
Anderson Gustavo Torres is a former Minister of Justice during the Bolsonaro administration. He was arrested in January 2023, accused of being absent and facilitating the coup attempt on January 8, 2023, when he held the position of Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District.
Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira is an Army reserve general and former minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet during the Bolsonaro government.
Mauro César Barbosa Cid is a lieutenant colonel and former Bolsonaro aide. He was arrested in 2023 for falsifying data on the former president’s vaccination card. Cid was later released. In 2024, he was arrested again for non-compliance with judicial measures and obstruction of justice, and released two months later.
Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira is an Army general. He was Minister of Defense in the Bolsonaro government between April 1st and December 31st, 2022.
Walter Souza Braga Netto is an Army reserve general officer. He was Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff during the Bolsonaro government. In the 2022 presidential elections, he was vice president on the former president’s ticket in his unsuccessful bid for re-election. Netto was one of the main people involved in the coup attempt. Among other contributions, he allegedly gave up his home for a meeting to draw up the plan.
According to the indictment, Bolsonaro, Ramagem, Almir Garnier Santos, Augusto Heleno, Anderson Torres, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira and Braga Netto, all high-ranking members of the Federal Government and the Armed Forces, “formed the crucial core of the criminal organization, even though they joined at different moments. The main decisions and actions with a social impact came from them,” the document states. Mauro Cid, “although with less decision-making autonomy, was also part of this forefront group, acting as Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s spokesman and informing the guidelines to the other members of the group”.
In addition to the eight main names, other 26 men were indicted, including Silvinei Vasques, former director-general of Brazil’s Highway Police.
According to the document, “everyone was aware of the organization’s larger plan and the effectiveness of its actions in promoting social instability and bringing about institutional breakdown.”
The Supreme Court will analyze the indictment. If it is accepted, the former president and the other men accused will become defendants and face criminal proceedings before the court.
The other side
In a statement, General Braga Netto’s defense called the complaint “fanciful”. In the text, lawyers José Luis Oliveira Lima and Rodrigo Dall’Acqua claim that the Federal Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office ignored the general’s request to provide clarifications, showing “contempt for a careful and impartial investigation”. “The blatant violation of the right to defense in a democracy and the democratic rule of law is unacceptable,” the statement says.
During a visit to the Senate on Tuesday morning (18), Jair Bolsonaro said he was not worried about the probable accusation by the PGR. “I don’t have any concerns about the accusations, zero,” he said, talking to journalists. At the Senate, he met with opposition parliamentarians to discuss, among other things, the articulation to guarantee amnesty for the January 8 coup plotters.
