Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro echoes Trump by describing coup plot trial as a ‘witch hunt’

Former President Jair Bolsonaro poses for a selfie with a supporter upon arriving at a protest against his Supreme Court trial, in which he is accused of involvement in a 2022 coup attempt, in Sao Paulo, Sunday, June, 29, 2025. Photo by Ettore Chiereguini /AP

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s chief prosecutor has called for a guilty verdict in the case of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial accused of leading an alleged coup plot.

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“The evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law,” Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said in a 517-long page document released late Monday.

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Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by a left-wing rival.

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“All the accusations are false. I never violated democracy or the constitution,” Bolsonaro said on X hours before Gonet submitted his final report. The ex-president said that the trial was a “witch hunt,” echoing a term used by U.S. President Donald Trump when he came to his South American ally’s defense last week.

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The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.

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The defence will present its case shortly. Then the panel of Supreme Court justices that opened a trial against the former leader will vote on whether to convict or acquit him. Experts expect that to happen in the second half of the year.

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A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. A conviction on that and other charges could bring decades behind bars.

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The former president has repeatedly denied the allegations and asserted that he’s the target of political persecution.

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A lawyer for Bolsonaro didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Last week, Trump imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro’s trial. The U.S. president has hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. Last week, he compared the Brazilian’s situation to his own.

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Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump repeated the claim that the trial is a “witch hunt.”

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“Bolsonaro is not a dishonest man,” he said. “Nobody is happy with what Brazil is doing because Bolsonaro was a respected president.” Trump added that Bolsonaro isn’t a friend, but someone he knows.

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Gonet formally charged Bolsonaro and 33 others in February in connection with an alleged coup days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office.

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Gonet said Bolsonaro’s actions “were not limited to a passive stance of resistance to defeat, but were a conscious effort to create an environment conducive to violence and a coup.” He added that “the criminal organization documented almost all of the actions described in the indictment through recordings, handwritten notes, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of electronic messages.”