STF Opens Trial of 'Núcleo 2' in 2022 Coup Case as Conduct Questions Mount

Overview

• Brazil’s Supreme Court First Panel begins hearings on Dec. 9 for six defendants accused by federal prosecutors of drafting a coup decree, monitoring authorities and plotting violent “neutralization,” with sessions set for Dec. 9–10 and 16–17.
• The defendants include Silvinei Vasques, Fernando de Sousa Oliveira, Filipe Martins, Marcelo Câmara, Marília Ferreira de Alencar and Mário Fernandes, who face charges such as attempted abolition of the democratic order, coup d’état, armed criminal organization, qualified damage and deterioration of protected property.
• If convicted, penalties may include prison terms, loss of public office and, after final judgment, political ineligibility and civil reparations, with the panel ruling individually on each defendant.
• Justice Dias Toffoli, relator of the Banco Master inquiry, traveled on a private jet with a defense lawyer in that case and later sealed and centralized future investigative measures at the Supreme Court, drawing a public rebuke from Transparency International–Brazil as “extremely grave.”
• Separately, a recent injunction by Justice Gilmar Mendes tightening who can initiate impeachment of justices has prompted pushback in the Senate and renewed efforts to vote a new impeachment law, even as a virtual plenary review of the injunction is slated to start on Dec. 12.