RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former president Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has denied allegations of orchestrating an attempted coup to retain power after losing the 2022 election. The charges, brought forth by Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, accuse Bolsonaro of devising a complex scheme to stay in office, including plans to poison current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and assassinate Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Lula responded by stating that the current stage is only the indictment phase and emphasized that Bolsonaro and the others accused have the right to defend themselves. Bolsonaro, in his defense, claimed that the accusations were a tactic used by authoritarian regimes to create internal enemies and justify persecution and censorship.
