Government punishes colonel for coup message to Bolsonaro advisor

The commander of the Army, General Tomás Paiva, annulled this Friday (16) the appointment of Colonel Jean Lawand Junior to the Diplomatic Representation of Brazil in the United States. The decision comes after the Federal Police identified messages exchanged between Lawand and Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid that suggested an attempt at an alleged coup d’état using the Armed Forces.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Defense Minister José Múcio Monteiro Filho were informed of the Army commander’s determination at a meeting at the Planalto Palace, the newspaper reported. Folha de S. Paulo. Lawand is supervisor of the Astros Strategic Program at the Army’s Office of Projects, the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The conversations between Lawand and Cid, who acted as an assistant to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), were leaked by the Veja magazine this Thursday (15). They were found on Cid’s cell phone during the PF investigation. The colonel asked Cid to convince Bolsonaro to act against Lula’s election. “Convince 01 to save this country!” Lawand said in a message.

A Sheetthe Army said, in a note, that personal opinions “do not represent the thinking of the chain of command” of the Force and that in the administrative sphere “the appropriate measures are already being adopted”.

“For God’s sake, Cidão. For God’s sake, do something, man. Get him to do it. He can’t back down now. He’s got nothing to lose. He’s going to jail. The president is going to jail. The president will be arrested. And, worse, in Papuda, man”, said the colonel in another conversation. Laland told Look that he is a friend of Cid and does not remember any dialogue with the aforementioned content.

A People’s Gazette requested a position from the Ministry of Defense on the situation of Colonel Jean Lawand Junior, but did not receive a response until the publication of this article. The space remains open.

Bolsonaro’s defense says that dialogues prove that the former president was not involved

In a note, the defense of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) stated that “the new dialogues revealed by Veja magazine prove, once again, that President Bolsonaro never participated in any conversation about an alleged coup d’état”.

“We also recorded that the aide-de-camp, due to the function performed, received all demands – scheduling requests, messages etc – that should reach the President of the Republic. His cell phone, therefore, on several occasions became a simple mailbox that registered the most diverse lamentations”, says the note signed by the lawyers Paulo Amador da Cunha Bueno, Daniel Bettamio Tesser and Fábio Wajngarten.

Moraes withdraws secrecy of messages found on Cid’s cell phone

The minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes withdrew the secrecy of messages obtained by the PF on Mauro Cid’s cell phone. “The investigated person compiled studies dealing with the performance of the Armed Forces to guarantee the Constitutional Powers and GLO. The documents deal with the possibility of using the Armed Forces, on an exceptional basis, to ensure the independent and harmonious functioning of the Powers of the Union, through determination of the President of the Republic”, says the corporation’s report on the content found, informed the Brazil Agency.

Cid has been arrested since May 3 by order of Moraes on the charge of defrauding Bolsonaro’s vaccination card and that of his family members. During investigations into the case, the PF also found the messages released by the minister.