Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, facing trial over an alleged coup attempt and ineligible for office until 2030, addressed thousands of protesters at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
He claimed that being prevented from running for office next year is “a denial of democracy," and told his detractors in Brasilia that elections without Bolsonaro are a denial of democracy in Brazil.
The protest called for “amnesty” for those convicted for their involvement in the 8 January, 2023 riots in Brasilia.
On that day, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised the presidential palace, parliament, and Supreme Court headquarters, a week after the inauguration of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
While Bolsonaro was in the United States, the rioters demanded a military intervention to oust Lula, who defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election.
These riots led the prosecution to charge Bolsonaro in February with an alleged coup plot to stay in power.
He is accused of leading a “criminal organisation” that conspired over a long period, facing a cumulative sentence exceeding 40 years in prison.
Bolsonaro was declared ineligible for office until 2030 due to his baseless attacks against Brazil’s electronic voting system, but he hopes to overturn this ruling or shorten his sentence to run for a second term.
