Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said he is innocent of charges linked to an alleged attempt to overturn the 2022 election and described any possible conviction as an “injustice.” The remarks were made on Thursday at a news conference in the Senate, three days after Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet asked the Supreme Federal Court to convict Bolsonaro and seven others for coup plotting, violent abolition of the democratic order and forming a criminal organization. If found guilty, Bolsonaro could face more than 40 years in prison. Bolsonaro also urged his son, licensed federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, to remain in the United States, arguing that the lawmaker would be arrested on arrival if he returned to Brazil. Eduardo left the country in March claiming political persecution; his parliamentary leave expires on 20 July, after which he risks losing his seat for excessive absences. This week, government allies in Congress filed a petition with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes seeking Eduardo Bolsonaro’s preventive detention for alleged obstruction of justice and threats to national sovereignty. The elder Bolsonaro dismissed the filing and reiterated that neither he nor his son had committed crimes, insisting, “I am not accused of corruption. There is no basis for this.”