Brazilian justice opens Bolsonaro’s trial with a swipe at Trump

BRASÍLIA - A Brazilian supreme court justice opened the trial of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday with a statement defending the independence of the proceeding from foreign interference - a swipe at President Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing former Army officer, is accused of trying to stay in power after his 2022 election loss by planning a military coup that included a plot to kill the man who defeated him, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Trump, a Bolsonaro ally, has called the prosecution a “witch hunt” and ordered economic and diplomatic sanctions to pressure officials to drop it.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of Trump’s principal targets, did not name Trump or the United States but spoke of an effort by “another foreign state” to interfere with the proceeding.

“This attempt of obstruction will not affect the impartiality or independence of the justices in this court,” Moraes said from the bench. “We will never lack the courage to reject those who threaten our national sovereignty or the independence of the judiciary.”

Bolsonaro did not attend the session Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to unfold over the next 10 days in Brazil’s Supreme Court, the modernist building that was damaged by his supporters who stormed the capital on Jan. 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s inauguration. The event echoed the attempt by Trump supporters to interfere with the certification of the President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bolsonaro is charged with leading a criminal organization, attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law and attempting a coup, among other violations. The former president denies wrongdoing; he has called the charges political persecution. If convicted by the five-member panel, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.

Also on trial are seven other high-profile former officials and military officers, including an admiral, three generals, and a lieutenant colonel who has agreed to a plea deal.

Brazil has suffered more than a dozen coup attempts in its history, but has traditionally opted for political conciliation over legal accountability. Moraes said the prosecution if Bolsonaro could be a turning point.

“The seemingly easier path - that of impunity - leaves traumatic scars on society and eats away at democracy,” he said. “True national conciliation depends on respect for the Constitution, the enforcement of the law, and the strengthening of institutions. There can be no confusing genuine peace with the cowardice of appeasement.”

Prosecutors say Bolsonaro began to plan a coup in 2021, a year before his defeat, and that it culminated in the violent attacks on government buildings.

Among the evidence against him, they say, is a draft of an unpublished presidential decree that would have granted him emergency powers to seize control of Brazil’s top electoral court and change the election results. Authorities say Bolsonaro edited the document himself and presented it to military leaders but could not secure their unanimous support.

As part of the alleged plot, authorities say, Bolsonaro approved a plan to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Moraes. They say a draft of the plan was printed at the presidential palace.

Moraes, reading a summary of the case Tuesday, cited accusations Bolsonaro led a group that acted “with the clear intention of orchestrating a democratic rupture in Brazil.”

“They developed a gradual and systematic plan of attacks on democratic institutions to prevent the legitimate transfer of power in 2022 and to undermine the other branches of government - especially the judiciary.”

Eduardo Bolsonaro, a federal congressman and the president’s son, lobbied the Trump administration for months, including during a visit to the White House in July, to sanction Moraes. The administration eventually imposed sanctions against the justice under the Global Magnitsky Act, an Obama-era law intended to punish corrupt foreign officials and serious human rights abusers. The administration has also imposed a 50 percent tariff on goods from Brazil and revoked the visas of Moraes and other Supreme Court justices.

“Regrettably,” Moraes said Tuesday, “during the course of this criminal proceeding, it was found that there was willful and conscious conduct on the part of a true criminal organization that, in a manner never seen before in our country, began to act in a cowardly and treacherous way with the aim of trying to coerce the Judiciary, in particular this Supreme Court, and subject the functioning of the court to the scrutiny of another foreign state.”

After Moraes spoke, prosecutors described their summary of the case. The defense was to follow.

Voting is expected to begin next week. A simple majority - three votes - is required to convict or acquit. If any defendants are convicted, a second round of votes would determine sentences.

A justice could delay the trial up to 90 days for more time, but the majority view on the court is that delaying the trial would suggest the U.S. American pressure was working.

Justices are bracing for the possibility of more sanctions. Four justices and two diplomats, all of whom spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions, speculated that the Magnitsky Act could be invoked against the other justices on the panel.

If convicted, Bolsonaro could file appeals before serving his sentence. He is in house arrest for allegedly disobeying a court order to refrain from making public comments to intimidate or pressure public officials into canceling his trial.