Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes said in an interview on Wednesday that remarks made by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro during a recent rally “seemed” like a confession of a planned coup attempt.
Under the ongoing Federal Police investigation, he said, Mr. Bolsonaro could be considered a direct perpetrator of the crime, as opposed to being deemed the mastermind behind it.
Justice Mendes used the term “autor material,” to refer to the former president’s potential involvement in the crime, a concept in Brazilian law that refers to the individual who physically carries out the actions that constitute a crime, as opposed to people who might be involved as accomplices or masterminds.
During a rally in São Paulo last Sunday, Mr. Bolsonaro spoke about a draft putschist decree that federal authorities found in the home of his former justice minister, Anderson Torres. In several public statements last year, the former president denied any knowledge of the document, including saying that coups are carried out with “rifles, not paper.”
In his latest speech, however, Mr. Bolsonaro said that the steps necessary to declare a state of emergency, as described in the draft decree, were never taken.
“A coup using the Constitution? For the love of God …. Let’s be clear that a state of siege begins with the president convening the Council of the Republic and the Council of Defense. Was that done? No,” he said.
Although Mr. Bolsonaro did not directly admit that he had knowledge of the draft during his presidential term, he spoke about how no action was taken, as opposed to once again denying knowledge of the text at the time.
Although unconstitutional, the document was drafted to give Mr. Bolsonaro the power to overturn the 2022 presidential election. The draft would have placed electoral courts under a state of emergency and created a committee with the power to annul presidential election results.
Under the Brazilian Constitution, the president can declare a limited “state of defense” for up to ten days without congressional approval, suspending some constitutional rights, but he or she must meet with two councils before doing so. The president can also request a more severe “state of siege,” which is enacted only after congressional approval. The draft decree found at Mr. Torres’s home called for a state of defense.
On Tuesday, before the interview with Justice Mendes was published, Mr. Bolsonaro’s lawyers had already publicly denied that their client had admitted during the rally that he knew about the draft decree during his time in office.
In Brazil, most Supreme Court justices give interviews, participate in lectures, and speak about pending legislation and ongoing investigations — even though it is not an official part of their role.
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