FEDERAL POLICE IN Brazil say they have indicted former president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people on charges of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections.

The findings were to be delivered today to Brazil’s Supreme Court to be referred to prosecutor-general Paulo Gonet, who will either agree with the charges and put the former president on trial or toss the investigation.

The charge of attempting a coup carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

According to police, the alleged plot was hatched in the final months of Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 presidency.

The police statement did not draw a direct link between the alleged plot and an insurrection that took place in Brasilia on 8 January, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the capital’s presidential palace, the Congress building and the Supreme Court.

The scenes that day drew many comparisons with the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in January 2021. 

Bolsonaro supporters storm the Supreme Court, National Congress and presidential palace in Brasilian, 8 January, 2023. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The former right-wing leader has denied all claims he tried to stay in office after his electoral defeat in 2022 to his rival, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro has faced a series of legal threats since then.

Bolsonaro vowed to “fight” the allegation, and accused the Supreme Court judge overseeing the case of overstepping the law.

“The fight begins at the Attorney General’s office,” Bolsonaro said on his X social media account.

Other investigations focus on his potential roles in smuggling diamond jewellery 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.

On Tuesday, the federal police arrested four military officers and a federal police officer accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections and allegedly kill the president and other top officials.

With reporting from AFP and Press Association