Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” brought tens of thousands of supporters out onto Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach as he faces trial for his role in a supposed coup attempt.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, and several of his most important allies will face a five-judge tribunal in Brazil’s Supreme Court in just over a week’s time. If the judges agree to hear the trial, Bolsonaro and his allies will become defendants and face charges for their part in attempting to contest the result of the 2022 election.
During the demonstration on Sunday, Bolsonaro’s supporters demanded a pardon for those accused of vandalizing government buildings in the aftermath of the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“I was in Brasília on a vigil before January 8 participating in prayers,” said Monica Alves, a Bolsonaro supporter.
“I know the people. There are no troublemakers or criminals there.”
Alessandra Mello, another supporter of the former president, said, “Brazil has lost the right to freedom of expression and to demonstrate. There must be amnesty for these people who do not commit crimes.”
Bolsonaro told supporters that a bill proposing a pardon for people who participated in the January 8 riots has enough support to be approved in the lower house.
“We are talking about innocent people who have no idea or power over what they were doing,” he said during his speech, which was interrupted after some people felt sick from the heat. “What democracy is that which arrests the innocent. … Without freedom of expression there is no democracy.”
In an official statement, the former President’s lawyers said he “never condoned any movement aimed at dismantling the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it.”
It’s widely believed that if Bolsonaro goes to trial, he is unlikely to be exonerated.
“We believe the battle in the Supreme Court is essentially lost, given the majority of justices are opposed to Bolsonaro,” said Paulo Kramer, a political scientist who worked on Bolsonaro’s 2018 presidential campaign.
Bolsonaro is also battling a ruling by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which barred him from running for public office until 2030. He has said he will seek election again in 2026.