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Brazil’s Supreme Court has announced it will use virtual trials to speed up proceedings for some of the hundreds of defendants accused in an attempted coup earlier this year.
Last week, the High Court sentenced the first three defendants to 14 to 17 years in prison for crimes including attempting a coup, subverting the democratic rule of law and causing serious harm.
The first virtual trial, in which judges can vote remotely and without reading arguments, will take place between September 26 and October 2 and concerns the case of Moakir José dos Santos.
The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hold virtual or in-person hearings in the remaining cases against 232 people for their alleged direct involvement in the January 8 attack on the President, the National Congress and the headquarters of the Supreme Court.
There are 1,390 defendants in the case, although the Supreme Court has authorized the prosecution to negotiate non-prosecution agreements with 1,100 people against whom there is no evidence of their direct involvement in the attacks.
Most of the defendants were detained in a camp set up in Brasília by far-right radicals to contest President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory over his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022 elections.
On January 8, thousands of Bolsonaristas camped out in Brasília and others from other cities across the country carried out coordinated attacks on the headquarters of the three branches of government in an attempt to forcefully oust Lula, who had taken power eight days earlier.
The Supreme Court is also investigating whether Bolsonaro, who did not recognize the election results, encouraged radical groups supporting him to carry out attacks.
