Brazil’s Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet plans to delay indictments of former President Jair Bolsonaro and his alleged co-conspirators in an attempted coup plot until 2025, opting to merge three separate Federal Police investigations into a single comprehensive case, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
The decision comes after Federal Police on Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 others of attempting a coup d’état, violently seeking to abolish democratic rule, and participating in a criminal organization. The 884-page police report, headed to the Supreme Court before reaching Gonet’s office next week, details an alleged conspiracy that included assassination plans following Bolsonaro’s 2022 election defeat.
“Gonet is very technical. In addition to the investigation itself, there is all the legal basis for the indictments to be analyzed. This will take time,” one source with direct knowledge told Reuters. Another source close to the prosecutor indicated the criminal indictments would come “all at once” to present a more solid case.
The delay encompasses two additional Federal Police investigations completed earlier this year, accusing Bolsonaro and associates of COVID-19 vaccination card tampering and embezzling Saudi-gifted jewelry while in office. The combined approach reflects the complexity of cases that could take years to reach final judgment in Brazil’s court system.
The latest police report culminates a nearly two-year investigation into Bolsonaro’s role in election denial efforts that peaked with his supporters’ January 2023 riots in Brasilia, just days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration.
Despite mounting legal challenges, Bolsonaro maintains significant political influence. His party holds the largest bloc in Congress’s lower house and showed strength in recent municipal elections, demonstrating the resilience of the right-wing movement he has led for six years.
