Valdemar Costa Neto escapes from PGR denunciation in an inquiry into an attempted coup

The national president of the PL, Valdemar Costa Netowas left out of the complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) against former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and 33 others in the inquiry into the attempted coup.

Although he was indicted by the Federal Police last year for crimes of criminal association and attempted abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law, the party leader was not mentioned in the 272 pages sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

According to the PF report, Valdemar reportedly acting “coordinated” to keep Bolsonaro in power, even though he knew that the allegations of electoral fraud were unfounded. The indictment pointed out that he participated in the preparation of an opinion presented to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that questioned the fairness of the electronic ballot boxes. The document, however, there was no technical basis and was rejected by the Electoral Court.

“This representation was prepared with the participation of several members of the criminal organization, including Carlos Rocha and Éder Balbino, with whom Valdemar kept direct contact,” said the PF at the time.

However, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, concluded that there is not enough evidence to denounce the PL leader. However, PGR stressed that the absence of Valdemar’s name in the complaint does not imply definitive filing of the case and that new evidence may lead to the resumption of investigations against him.

Other names were also left out of the complaint, such as jurist Amauri Feres Saad, appointed in the denunciation of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid as responsible for presenting a scammer draft to Bolsonaro, and Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva, who would have attended the meetings of the group. In addition to them, former presidential advisor Tércio Arnaud Tomaz, suspected of joining the so-called “Hate Office” and assisting in the dissemination of fake news, was also not included in the PGR piece.

If the Federal Supreme Court (STF) accepts the complaint, they will become defendants in a criminal case.