Brazil's Bolsonaro accused of plot to poison Lula and kill a judge

Brazil's prosecutor-general on Tuesday formally charged former president Jair Bolsonaro with attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, in a plot to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet alleges that Bolsonaro and 33 others with participating in a plan to remain in power. The alleged plot, he wrote, included a plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of the former president.

"The members of the criminal organization structured at the presidential palace a plan to attack institutions, aiming to bring down the system of the powers and the democratic order, which received the sinister name of 'Green and Yellow Dagger,'" Gonet wrote in a 272-page indictment. "The plan was conceived and taken to the knowledge of the president, and he agreed to it."   

Bolsonaro is often seen in Brazil's yellow-and-green national soccer jersey and the colours have become associated with his political movement.

Bolsonaro's defence team said it met the accusations with "dismay and indignation," adding in a statement that the former president "has never agreed to any movement aimed at deconstructing the democratic rule of law or the institutions that underpin it."

Bolsonaro's son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who is a senator, said on the social platform X that the indictment was "empty" and there was no evidence of wrongdoing. He accused the Prosecutor-General's Office of serving "the nefarious interests of Lula."

In November, Brazil's Federal Police filed an 884-page report with Gonet detailing the scheme. They allege a systematic effort to sow distrust in the electoral system, drafting a decree to provide legal cover for the plot, pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan and inciting a riot in the capital.   

In the indictment, Gonet described the alleged crimes as part of a chain of events articulated with an overarching objective of stopping Bolsonaro from leaving office, "contrary to the result of the popular will at the polls."

The Supreme Court will analyze the charges and, if accepted, Bolsonaro will stand trial.

The former leader has denied wrongdoing.

"I have no concerns about the accusations, zero," Bolsonaro told journalists earlier Tuesday during a visit to the Senate in Brasilia.

"Have you seen the coup decree, by any chance? You haven't. Neither have I," he said.

As well as being charged with participating in a coup d'etat, the 34 defendants are accused of participating in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage qualified by violence and serious threat against the state's assets, and deterioration of listed heritage, according to a statement from the Prosecutor General's press office.

Gonet said the criminal organization he charged "had as leaders the [then] president himself and his running mate, Gen. Braga Netto."