Brazil's attorney general said on Tuesday (18) that former leader Jair Bolsonaro knew about and agreed to a plan to poison his successor and current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as part of a coup attempt to stay in power.

According to a Euro News PortugueseThe attorney general, Paulo Gonet, formally accused Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to keep himself in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections and said that the plan also aimed to kill Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, an enemy of the former president.

Thus, the Supreme Court will analyze the charges and, if they are accepted, Bolsonaro will stand trial.

However, in the face of the accusations, the far-right leader denies any wrongdoing. "I have no concern about the accusations, zero," Bolsonaro told journalists during a visit to the Senate in Brasilia.

"Have you seen the coup decree? You haven't. Neither have I," he added.

Bolsonaro's defense team said it received the accusations with "dismay and indignation", adding in a statement that "the former president never agreed with any movement aimed at deconstructing the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it".

Bolsonaro's son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who is a senator, said on the social platform X that the accusation was "empty" and that there was no evidence of irregularities. He also accused the Attorney General's Office of serving "Lula's nefarious interests".

(Photo DR)