Thousands gather in Rio de Janeiro to demonstrate support for Bolsonaro

By Luciana Magalhaes and Rodrigo Viga Gaier

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -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.

Bolsonaro and his representatives have denied wrongdoing.

"The President never condoned any movement aimed at dismantling the democratic rule of law or the institutions that support it," his defense attorneys said in a statement.

Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet filed the charges last month against Bolsonaro, a veteran politician with nearly three decades in Congress, accusing him of organizing a criminal group trying to break with the country's democracy. The alleged plans included a plot to poison President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won the 2022 race and succeeded Bolsonaro in office.

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.

Bolsonaro is also fighting a ruling by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which has barred him from running for public office until 2030. In spite of the ban, he has repeatedly expressed his desire to seek the presidency again in 2026.

"Whenever a politician faces a legal issue, he orchestrates a public demonstration," said Thiago de Aragão, CEO of Washington-based consultancy Arko International, who said he doubted the tactic would sway the court's decisions. "No one underestimates Bolsonaro's strength. The march will not come as a surprise to the justices or anyone else."

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Additional reporting by Ana Mano and Fabricio de Castro, Editing by Brad Haynes and Mark Porter)