Bolsonaro's defense team requests the annulment of Mauro Cid's plea bargain: "it shouldn't exist"

247 - On Wednesday morning (10), lawyer Paulo Cunha Bueno, who defends former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), commented on the testimony of Mauro Cid, a cooperating defendant in the case that could result in Bolsonaro's conviction. The lawyer stated that Cid's collaboration "should not exist" and called him a "liar". The information is from CNN Brazil.

The statement was made before the start of the session at the Supreme Federal Court (STF), where the justices could form a majority to convict Bolsonaro, depending on the vote of Justice Luiz Fux. The defense argues that the plea bargain needs to be annulled to avoid creating a "horrible precedent" for the country.

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the action, in turn, positioned himself in favor of the validity of Cid's collaboration during Tuesday's session (9). Moraes stressed that the omissions in Cid's testimonies do not necessarily imply the nullity of the evidence and information obtained through his collaboration. 

The minister argued that, should any flaws exist, they should only result in a reduction of the benefits agreed upon with the informant, and not in their complete annulment. Moraes also took the opportunity to rebut criticisms from Minister Fux regarding the number of Cid's testimonies, stating that the criticisms "border on bad faith litigation" and that the testimonies, despite addressing diverse topics, are not contradictory to each other.

The trial continues with the participation of other ministers. Alexandre de Moraes has already voted for the conviction of Bolsonaro and seven other defendants, including prominent figures from the previous government, such as former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, former GSI Minister Augusto Heleno, and Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, Mauro Cid. Moraes's vote, which lasted about five hours and included a detailed presentation with 70 slides, described, in 13 points, the actions of the alleged group involved in the planned coup. So far, the vote count is 2-0 in favor of conviction, with more votes expected in the coming days.

Besides the former president, the defendants face serious charges, such as armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, coup d'état, aggravated damage, and deterioration of listed heritage. However, federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem was exempted from some of these charges, as the Chamber of Deputies suspended his criminal proceedings. The trial continues, with sessions scheduled for September 11th and 12th.