Brazil's Bolsonaro calls mass protest amid legal firestorm
The Hindu
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro calls for mass protest in Sao Paulo amid accusations of plotting a coup, facing legal scrutiny.
Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro takes his legal woes to the street on February 25, calling for a mass protest from supporters amid accusations he plotted a coup to stay in power.
The 68-year-old former Army officer has urged his backers to attend a "peaceful rally in defence of the democratic rule of law" in the economic capital Sao Paulo which organizers hope will draw at least 500,000 people.
Mr. Bolsonaro has had his passport seized by police as he and his inner circle face scrutiny over plans to try to remain in power after he lost 2022 elections to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The far-right former President Mr. Bolsonaro has denied the accusations and he refused to answer questions during a half-hour interrogation on February 22 at federal police headquarters in Brasilia.
"No one attempted a coup in Brazil. That is the great truth," Mr. Bolsonaro told radio station CBN Recife.
A week after Mr. Lula took office on January 1, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court, urging the military to intervene to overturn what they called a stolen election.
Mr. Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time, denies responsibility, and has even suggested the protesters were not really his supporters.
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