By Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Federal Police will present on Thursday a formal accusation against former President Jair Bolsonaro in their investigation of an alleged coup conspiracy after he lost the 2022 election, police sources said.
The formal police accusations would be a fresh blow to Bolsonaro’s plans to run for president in 2026. Allies have been trying to overturn a court decision blocking him from running for office due to his attacks on the legitimacy of the country voting system in 2022.
Police on Tuesday arrested five people, including a former member of Bolsonaro’s cabinet, suspected of involvement in a plot that included assassinating Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then president-elect, just days before he took office.
The police investigation will point to Bolsonaro as a key player in the conspiracy and seek to hold him criminally responsible for an attempt to violently overthrow democratic rule, one police source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The source said senior members of Bolsonaro’s government will be implicated, including his 2022 running mate, retired General Walter Braga Netto, who was defense minister, and retired General Augusto Heleno, who was national security advisor, along with some 40 other suspects.
Bolsonaro and his senior aides have denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a political prosecution.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Anthony Boadle and Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Brad Haynes)