(Brasilia) Six months after leaving power, he faces justice: Thursday opened the trial of former far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, which could earn him ineligibility and deprive him of the 2026 ballot .
While his political future is in the hands of the seven judges gathered in the solemn enclosure of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in Brasilia, Mr. Bolsonaro shunned this meeting to go to Porto Alegre. In this large southern city, several dozen supporters cheered him on his arrival at the airport before a scheduled meeting with his Liberal Party, AFP noted.
The former head of state (2019-2022), who claims to be innocent, is being prosecuted for attacking electoral justice and having criticized, without proof, the reliability of electronic voting, a few months before the elections won by his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
According to the indictment read at the opening of the TSE session by judge Benedito Goncalves, the former president is accused of having sought to “discredit the future results of the elections before the international community, to a time when the polls gave the advantage to an adversary”.
In a speech in July 2022 at the presidential residence of Alvorada, and broadcast on public television, Mr. Bolsonaro had declared before diplomats that he wanted to “correct flaws” in electronic voting with the “participation of the armed forces”, without provide any evidence for his allegations.
For these remarks, the 68-year-old ex-army captain could be declared “ineligible” for public office for eight years. The prosecution is prosecuting him for “abuse of political power and improper use of the means of communication”.
Throughout his campaign, he had waved the risk of fraud, stoking the anger of his most radical supporters who, on January 8, just days after Lula took office, attacked the seats of the executive, legislative and judiciary in Brasilia. Striking scenes that had recalled the assault led, two years earlier, by supporters of former US President Donald Trump on the Capitol in Washington.
“Civilization” and “barbarism”
“This is not the trial of Bolsonarism. There is no need to arbitrate an imaginary bloody dispute between civilization and barbarism”, launched Tarcisio Vieira, lawyer of the ex-president, affirming that the object of the lawsuit should be only “a meeting with ambassadors, which occurred long before the elections”.
Very discreet since his return to Brazil at the end of March after a three-month stay in the United States, which began even before the investiture of his killer, Mr. Bolsonaro multiplied as the trial approached.
“There has been no criticism or attack against the electoral system,” he argued to the press on Wednesday. On CNN Brazil, he asked the judges to render a “fair judgment”.
If the court does not render its decision by Thursday, as seems likely, the deliberations can continue on June 27 and 29. Even beyond. In the event of a conviction, he may file an appeal.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bolsonaro said he “did not know” whether he would again run for public office, noting that for that he would have to “keep” his political rights.
“We are not going to panic over the outcome that will come. […]. We want to stay alive, making our contribution to the country,” he said on Sunday.
He had lost with only 1.8% difference in the second round against Lula. Right-wing and far-right parties are even stronger in parliament than they were under his tenure, posing a daunting challenge to the left-wing president, returning after two terms (2003-2010).
The former leader is not at the end of his legal torments. He faces about fifteen procedures before the electoral court.
He is also targeted by the Supreme Court in five cases, notably for the January 8 attacks, and faces prison sentences.
Since his return from the United States, he has been heard by the police on three occasions: for the violence in Brasilia, for a case of jewelry offered by Saudi Arabia, some of which would have entered Brazil irregularly, and for tampering presumed anti-COVID-19 vaccination certificates.
The Lula government is keeping a distance from the affairs of the far-right leader and has made no recent statements on the subject.