Bolsonaro co-accused testifies on plot to ‘redo’ 2022 Brazil election

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the press at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil on March 26, 2025. (Eraldo Peres / AP Photo)

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro helped draft a plan to “redo the election” he narrowly lost in 2022, a co-accused testified in the former president’s coup trial on Monday.

Prosecutors accused the 70-year-old far-right leader, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, of having led a “criminal organization” plotting to prevent leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva taking power.

The plot failed, the charge sheet says, for a lack of military backing.

Bolsonaro and six co-accused appeared in the Supreme Court on Monday to undergo questioning. A seventh took part via videoconference from prison.

Former right-hand man Mauro Cid, who has turned state’s witness, told the court that Bolsonaro had “received and read” a draft decree for the declaration of a state of emergency.

He then “edited” the document, which would have paved the way for measures to “redo the election” Lula had narrowly won, and also envisaged the imprisonment of officials.

Apart from the alleged coup plot, Bolsonaro also stands accused of having been aware of plans to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes -- an arch-foe.

Bolsonaro, who is hoping to make a comeback in 2026 presidential elections despite being barred from running, denies all charges.

He and his former aides risk sentences of up to 40 years behind bars.

Although he has the right to remain silent, the former president told reporters he plans to respond “without any problem” to questions from the court.

“It’s an excellent idea to speak openly about the coup. I will be very happy to have the opportunity to clarify what happened,” the former army captain said last week.

“It’s the moment of truth.”

‘Dictator’

The Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia, where Bolsonaro will take the stand -- likely Tuesday or Wednesday -- was one of the targets of rioting supporters known as “Bolsonaristas” -- who raided government buildings in January 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula.

Bolsonaro was abroad at the time of the last gasp effort to keep him in power, after the alleged coup planning fizzled.

For the former president, the trial marked a reunion with former allies and sworn enemies including Cid, who has been labeled a traitor for testifying against his former boss.

His testimony had allowed police to identify various actors in the alleged coup plot and to lay hands on compromising information, according to the investigation.

Four former ministers and the former heads of Brazil’s navy and intelligence agency will also be giving testimony in an in-person questioning session expected to run no later than Friday. The proceedings are broadcast live.

Bolsonaro will face questions not only from prosecutors and defense attorneys, but also judge Moraes, whom the former president calls a “dictator.”

‘History’ in the making

Since the alleged plot was conceived over a long period, and because some of the charges are new to the Brazilian system, “an extremely complex legal discussion” is expected, according to Rogerio Taffarello, a criminal law expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

New witnesses may yet be called before the court gets to closing arguments and sentencing deliberations.

Bolsonaro spent the weekend with his lawyers preparing his testimony at the residence of Sao Paulo state governor Tarcisio de Freitas, local media reported.

In a preliminary phase, Freitas, who served as Bolsonaro’s infrastructure minister, testified his boss had “never touched” on the subject of a coup or “mentioned any attempt at constitutional disruption.”

But two former army commanders said Bolsonaro had hosted a meeting where the declaration of a state of emergency was discussed as a means to overturn Lula’s election victory.

Bolsonaro’s trial is the first for an attempted coup under a democratic regime in Brazil.