Brazil police to accuse Bolsonaro in alleged 2022 coup plot, sources say

PHOTO CAPTION: Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro reacts at an event at the Municipal Theatre in Sao Paulo, Brazil March 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Federal Police will present on Thursday a formal accusation against former President Jair Bolsonaro in their investigation of an alleged coup conspiracy after he lost the 2022 election, along with other crimes, police sources said.

The formal police accusations would be a fresh blow to Bolsonaro's plans to run for president in 2026. Allies have been trying to overturn a court decision blocking him from running for office due to his attacks on the legitimacy of the country voting system in 2022.

Police on Tuesday arrested five people, including a former member of Bolsonaro's cabinet, suspected of involvement in a plot that included assassinating Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then president-elect, just days before he took office.



(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Anthony Boadle and Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Brad Haynes)