Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is being questioned by the Supreme Court this week on charges of an attempted coup d'état - a key stage in the trial, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The questioning begins later today, with Bolsonaro appearing in the courtroom just days after a major abdominal operation - a consequence of the assassination attempt against him with a cold weapon in 2018. The sessions will continue throughout the week.
Bolsonaro denies the charges and insists that he never wanted to disrupt the democratic order in the country. The case against him concerns an alleged conspiracy to obstruct the authority of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the 2022 election.
In other cases related to unfounded challenges to the electoral process, Bolsonaro has already been banned from running for public office until 2030. If convicted now, he could face a possible sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
Jair Bolsonaro, born in March 1955 in the state of São Paulo, comes from a family with Italian roots and has five children by three different women. Four of them are active in politics. Together with his wife, Michelle, an evangelical 27 years his junior, and his children, he has built a strong political family with influence on social media.
Bolsonaro is a former army captain with a career marked by disobedience and a consistent defense of Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985). In 2016, he declared that "the regime's mistake was to torture rather than kill dissidents" - a line that illustrates his provocative style, as well as a series of misogynistic, racist and homophobic statements.
His political career began as a congressman in 1991, but only attracted attention after the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. With sharp rhetoric against corruption and leftist rule, he has won support among evangelicals and the agricultural sector, presenting himself as a man of the people.
In 2018, during his campaign, he was stabbed in the stomach, which left long-term consequences on his health.
As president (2019-2022), Bolsonaro promised to restore order, but his administration has gone through numerous crises. He has been sharply criticized for downplaying COVID-19, calling it a "simple virus", even though the pandemic has claimed nearly 700,000 lives in Brazil. He rejects lockdowns, wearing masks and even mocks vaccines. As a climate skeptic, he allows for rapid deforestation of the Amazon.
After losing the 2022 election by a narrow margin, Bolsonaro left for the United States. A week after Lula da Silva took office, his supporters attacked institutions in the capital, Brasilia, demanding military intervention.
According to prosecutors, this was part of a coup attempt led by Bolsonaro himself - an allegation he categorically denies.
Bolsonaro is currently counting on support from international allies, including former US President Donald Trump. In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington could impose sanctions on the judge leading the case, Alexandre de Moraes, who is considered a major opponent of Bolsonaro's supporters.
Seven of Bolsonaro's closest aides are also accused in the case.