Brazil's federal police announced on Thursday the indictment of former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others on charges of plotting a coup to retain power following his defeat in the 2022 elections.
Police said their findings were being delivered Thursday to Brazil's Supreme Court, which must decide whether to refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will either formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation.
The former right-wing president has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his narrow electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then.
Following the indictment, Bolsonaro vowed to mount a legal "fight."
"The fight begins at the Attorney General's office," he said on his X social media page. He accused the Supreme Court judge in charge of the case of overstepping the law.
Police said in a brief statement that the Supreme Court had agreed to reveal the names of all 37 people who were indicted "to avoid the dissemination of incorrect news." The 700-page police document likely will take several days for the court to review, Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes said.
Dozens of former and current Bolsonaro aides also were indicted, including Gen. Walter Braga Netto, who was his running mate in the 2022 campaign; former Army commander Gen. Paulo Sergio Nogueira de Oliveira; Valdemar Costa Neto, the chair of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party; and his veteran former adviser, Gen. Augusto Heleno.
The investigation started last year. On Tuesday, four military men and one federal police agent were arrested as part of the same probe.
Other investigations focus on Bolosnaro's potential roles in smuggling diamond jewelry into Brazil without properly declaring them, and in directing a subordinate to falsify his and others' COVID-19 vaccination statuses. Bolsonaro has denied any involvement in either.
Another probe found that he had abused his authority to cast doubt on the country's voting system, and judges barred him from running again until 2030.
The far-reaching investigations have weakened Bolsonaro's status as a leader of Brazil's right wing, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
"Bolsonaro is already barred from running in the 2026 elections," Melo told The Associated Press (AP).
"And if he is convicted he could also be jailed by then. To avoid being behind bars, he will have to convince Supreme Court justices that he has nothing to do with a plot that involves dozens of his aids. That's a very tall order," Melo said.
On Tuesday, the federal police arrested four military and a federal police officer accused of plotting to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections, including alleged plans to kill Lula and other top officials.
