SAO PAULO — Lawyers for Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro denied coup charges against him during their final defense in a Supreme Court trial over his alleged attempt to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The lawyers argued late Wednesday that no solid evidence had been presented to prove that Bolsonaro acted against Brazil’s democratic institutions or incited others to do so, and said the fact that he allowed the presidential transition to proceed contradicts the basic allegation that he plotted to thwart it. “This is evidence that eliminates the most essential of the accusatory premises,” they said.

The former president and other defendants were required to present their final arguments by Wednesday. This marks the last p

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