Report on coup draft wins Folha Prize – 02/18/2024 – Politics

A few days after the Bolsonarists invaded the headquarters of the three Powers on January 8, 2023, the Sheet revealed the existence of a proposed decree to establish a state of defense and reverse the result of the presidential election. The so-called “coup draft” was found by the Federal Police at the residence of Anderson Torres, former minister of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The report, published on January 12 last year and written by Vinicius Sassine and Camila Mattoso, is the winner of the Grand Prize Sheet of Journalism in 2023. The scoop (jargon for unprecedented journalistic information with relevant consequences) was chosen from among 505 works, a record number of entries for the annual award, which is in its 31st edition.

According to the judging panel, this is an “important revelation, which took the investigations against the Bolsonaro government to another level.”

Mattoso, who is director of the Sheet in Brasília, says that the text underwent thorough checking due to the seriousness of the complaint. “Even though we didn’t know who the author of the draft was, being at Anderson Torres’ house was a very relevant fact given the context”, he says.

Sassine, now the newspaper’s correspondent in the Amazon, states that “the report was one of the first to expose the existence and form of a coup plan, with details about what existed in that draft.”

The three-page document, found in Torres’ closet, was said to have been created after the elections and was intended to investigate abuse of power, suspicion and illegal measures adopted by the presidency of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). At the time, the former minister stated on social media that the draft had been “leaked out of context” with the intention of “feeding fallacious narratives”.

More than a year after being revealed by Sheet, the proposed decree would become a key part of the investigation investigating an alleged coup attempt by Bolsonaro’s allies to reverse the defeat at the polls by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). A document with similar content was found in Bolsonaro’s room inside the PL headquarters in Brasília during an operation launched by the PF on February 8.

The version of the draft under the former president’s possession provided for a declaration of a state of siege and ordered the arrest of several authorities, such as STF ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes and the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco. The document also mentioned the holding of new elections.

Federal Police investigations indicate that Bolsonaro received the proposed decree from former advisor Filipe Martins and lawyer Amauri Saad in November 2022. According to investigations, Bolsonaro had asked Martins to make some changes to the draft — the former The president would have decided to maintain the holding of new elections and the arrest of Moraes, suspending the others. A few days later, Martins returned to Palácio da Alvorada, accompanied by Saad, with the altered document.

In the decision in which Moraes ordered search and seizure, Martins and Saad are mentioned alongside Torres as members of a “legal nucleus” that would be responsible for “advising and preparing draft decrees with legal and doctrinal grounds that would serve the coup’s interests of the investigated group”. Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva and former aide-de-camp Mauro Cid, who signed a plea bargain agreement with the PF, would also be part of this group.

Bolsonaro’s defense denied his involvement in the coup draft found at the PL headquarters. His lawyers claim that they were responsible for sending the former president two minutes found on Cid’s cell phone after his arrest in May 2023.

According to the defense, Bolsonaro wanted to stay up to date with the investigation and the content of the minutes. “The former president never participated in or even knew about such ‘coup minutes'”, says a petition filed in the investigation. The lawyers also claim that Bolsonaro does not usually read texts on his cell phone, due to vision problems, and that is why he asked his advisor to print the document.

If he is prosecuted and convicted of the crimes of attempted coup d’état, attempted abolition of the democratic rule of law and criminal association, Bolsonaro could be ineligible for more than 30 years – the former president has not yet been indicted for these crimes.

In the event of a criminal conviction, the maximum penalty for the crime of attempted coup d’état is 12 years’ imprisonment, that of attempted abolition of the rule of law is 8 years and that of criminal association is 3 years, or In other words, the sum amounts to 23 years in prison.

The former president has already been convicted by the TSE for attacks and lies about the electoral system and is the target of different other investigations at the STF (Supreme Federal Court). Right now, he is ineligible until at least 2030.

Attacks on democracy dominate awards

Bolsonaro’s attacks on democracy are the subject of another award-winning work Sheet of Journalism. In the Hot Coverage category, the team of 40 professionals who covered the 8th of January won.

Another award-winning work was the Yanomami humanitarian crisis, written by Vinicius Sassine and Lalo de Almeida, in the Exclusive Reporting category. The Census data, presented by Diana Yukari and Gustavo Queirolo, took the prize in the Didacticism category.

In the audiovisual category, the photo by Eduardo Anizelli was awarded, showing a skull spilling blood in front of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro after a police operation in August last year. In turn, in the Service category, Stéfanie Rigamonti’s series of texts on strategies for achieving financial independence were highlighted.

The series of reports and documentaries on maternal mortality in partnership with the Pulitzer Center won the award in the Editorial Initiative category. Cláudia Collucci, Beatriz Peres, Mariana Goulart and Henrique Santana signed the work.

Created in 1993, the Award Sheet of Journalism aims to encourage teams and promote excellence in professional journalism. The judging panel was formed by Alexandra Moraes, assistant editorial secretary, José Henrique Mariante, ombudsman, and columnists Muniz Sodré and Lygia Maria.

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THE AWARD-WINNERS

BIG PRIZE

“Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice kept a draft decree at home to change the election result”

Authors: Camila Mattoso and Vinicius Sassine

Date: January 12, 2023

EXCLUSIVE REPORT CATEGORY

“The humanitarian crisis of the Yanomami”

authors: Vinicius Sassine and Lalo de Almeida

Date: January 25, 2023

HOT COVERAGE CATEGORY

“Attack on democracy: Scammers invade and vandalize Planalto, Congress and STF under inaction by the military and the DF Government”

Authors: Camila Mattoso, João Gabriel, José Marques, Alencar Izidoro and Otavio Valle

Co-authors: Matheus Teixeira, Ricardo Della Colleta, Fábio Pupo, Ranier Bragon, Constança Rezende, Raquel Lopes, Catia Seabra, Alexa Salomão, Thaísa Oliveira, Julia Chaib, Cézar Feitoza, Victoria Azevedo, Renato Machado, Fabio Serapião, Mateus Vargas, Géssica Brandino , Lívia Marra, Felipe Bächtold, Igor Gielow, Angela Pinho, Marcelo Toledo, Anna Virginia Balloussier, João Pedro Pitombo, Rogério Pagnan, Pedro Ladeira, Gabriela Biló, Beatriz Izumino, Juliano Machado, Luiza Pastor, Mathilde Missioneiro, Mônica Bento, Ana Estela Sousa Pinto, Fábio Haddad, Eduardo Moura and Edson Sales

Date: January 8, 2023

TEACHING CATEGORY

“Census”

Authors: Diana Yukari and Gustavo Queirolo

Co-authors: Clayton Castelani and Leonardo Vieceli

Date: October 27, 2023

AUDIOVISUAL CATEGORY

“Vmiting Blood”

Author: Eduardo Anizelli

Date: August 4, 2023

SERVICE CATEGORY

“How to be financially independent: strategies for all ages”

Author: Stéfanie Rigamonti

Co-authors: Eduardo Moura, Ana Estela de Sousa Pinto and Beatriz Peres

Date: 6.Sep.2023

EDITORIAL INITIATIVE CATEGORY

“Series of reports and documentary on maternal mortality in partnership with the Pulitzer Center”

Authors: Cláudia Collucci, Beatriz Peres, Mariana Goulart and Henrique Santana

Co-authors: Roberto de Oliveira and Fábio Haddad

Date: March 7, 2023