Bolsonaro’s Defense Pins Blame on Military Officers in Brazil Supreme Court Coup Plot Case

According to filings at Brazil’s Supreme Court, Jair Bolsonaro’s defense has built its strategy around distancing him from a coup plot attributed to a group of Army officers.

The court documents show that prosecutors accuse three key officers—General Mário Fernandes and lieutenant colonels Hélio Ferreira Lima and Rafael Martins de Oliveira—of preparing plans for violence after the 2022 election.

Investigators seized the document called “Punhal Verde-Amarelo” from General Fernandes, which outlined killing President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice-President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

A police report states he printed six copies inside the presidential palace. Prosecutors also tied Lieutenant Colonel Oliveira to another plan, called “Copa 2022,” which involved using Army resources in an operation targeting Justice Moraes.

Digital forensics linked Oliveira’s fingerprints to files containing this plan. Lieutenant Colonel Ferreira Lima kept a spreadsheet of more than two hundred steps describing how a coup could unfold.

The prosecution argues that the three officers, known within elite special forces as “kids pretos,” acted with others to pressure commanders and prepare kidnappings. Police reports note their involvement in attempts to drag senior generals into the scheme.

These officers remain under investigation, while the court weighs their role in what prosecutors describe as organized preparations for a coup between November and December 2022.

Bolsonaro Defense Claims No Direct Link to Plots Amid Ongoing Trial

Bolsonaro’s lawyer Celso Vilardi argues in his 197-page brief that none of this directly links the former president to the plans. He states that at most they were “preparatory acts” by others.

He stresses that there is “not a single proof” Bolsonaro directed or agreed to the schemes. He also asks the court not to add up penalties across charges but instead to apply only the most severe one if convicted.

To support this claim, the defense presented an opinion from professor Gustavo Badaró, a criminal procedure expert. He argues that the court failed to give the defense full and timely access to the complete evidence set, which he says reached about seventy terabytes.

He compares this problem to due-process flaws that damaged the credibility of the Lava Jato operation years earlier. Bolsonaro himself sought to show distance from violent supporters in his last days in office.

On December 30, 2022, he publicly condemned a failed bombing near Brasília airport and called its author’s ideas incompatible with society.

Prosecutors, however, cite a recorded conversation in which General Fernandes said Bolsonaro discussed possible dates for action in December 2022.

The Supreme Court already accepted charges against Bolsonaro and dozens of allies earlier this year. Witness hearings closed in June, and a verdict is expected later in 2025.

The outcome will not only decide Bolsonaro’s future but also define how Brazil’s judiciary draws lines between political leaders and military officers when evidence points in different directions.