Thousands of people gathered on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach on Sunday in a show of support for former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges of leading a plot to topple the government and undermine the country’s democracy after he lost a 2022 election.
Charges against the former army captain and several key allies will go before a five-judge panel at Brazil’s Supreme Court on March 25. If judges agree to hear the trial, Bolsonaro and others will become defendants.
In Sunday’s demonstration, people demanded a pardon for supporters of the former president, who were accused of ransacking government buildings days after the inauguration of 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.”
Paulo Kramer, a political scientist who worked on Bolsonaro’s 2018 presidential campaign, said the former leader’s strategy now relies more than ever on seeking support directly from voters.
“We believe the battle in the Supreme Court is essentially lost, given the majority justices are opposed to Bolsonaro,” Kramer told Reuters, adding: “Taking the streets is a way to reassert his leadership.”
The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment.