00:00In Brazil, the trial against former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has entered its final stages.
00:06Our correspondent, Brian Mir, has more.
00:08Brazil's Supreme Court has begun its final deliberations on the Attorney General's indictments
00:14of former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his cronies,
00:18including two Army Generals, the former Commander of the Navy and his former Intelligence Chief,
00:24for plotting to enact a military coup to keep him in power after he lost the 2022 presidential elections.
00:31Failing to criminally punish this type of coup attempt, as history here and abroad demonstrates,
00:38invites a resurgence of authoritarianism, putting our entire model of civilized society at risk.
00:46After Justice Alexandre de Moraes read the minutes of the last session
00:50and Attorney General Paulo Gómez summarized his argument for the prosecution,
00:56the lawyers for the defendants were granted an hour each to summarize their arguments.
01:00The first to speak was the defense team for Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid,
01:05Jair Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, who has struck a plea bargain deal
01:09in exchange for testifying against his former boss.
01:12The process was extremely ethical and professional.
01:15Investigators never spoke to Mauro Cid without his defense lawyer present
01:20and always ensured he had access to his legal team.
01:24If this isn't a sign of respect for due process,
01:29I was misinformed in law school.
01:31Although many in the press and the general public view the trial as a sign
01:35that Brazil's democratic institutions are working,
01:38others worry about danger lurking below the surface.
01:41It is generally believed that Bolsonaro will be convicted
01:45and will face a sentence of between 30 and 40 years.
01:48But there is a lot of movement in the world of politics.
01:50The big news today is that two political parties,
01:53the PP and Union Brazil,
01:55have decided not only to leave Lula's governing coalition,
01:58but to support the opposition's drive for amnesty for ex-president Bolsonaro.
02:03In other words, the political impasse in Brazil
02:06is expected to continue for the next few months.
02:08The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling on September 12th.
02:13Brian Muir, Tellus Sir, Hesifi.
Comments