A DRAFT congressional report on Brazil’s January 8 coup attempt accused ex-president Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday of being the insurrection’s mastermind and recommended he be criminally charged with attempting to stage a coup.

The report by Senator Eliziane Gama followed months of hearings by a committee investigating the uprising in Brasilia. 

It proposed charges against Mr Bolsonaro including the violent overthrow of democratic rule, and a slew of other accusations against dozens of people, citing “extensive documentation,” including bank statements, phone records and messages.

The right-wing former president, who lost his re-election bid last year, has denied any involvement in the rioting, which took place after he had quietly left the country to stay in Florida while refusing to attend the inauguration of incoming President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva.

A full panel of 32 lawmakers were scheduled to vote on the inquiry report yesterday and are seen as likely to adopt the measure, which would serve as a recommendation to prosecutors.

On January 8, one week after Lula took office, thousands of pro-Bolsonaro protesters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace, refusing to accept his election defeat. 

Senator Gama’s report names Mr Bolsonaro as the ringleader behind the attempted coup.

She told the Senate: “Mr Bolsonaro and everyone around him knew about this.

“They understood the violence and the scope of the demonstrations. They frequented the same groups on social media. They encouraged and fed rebellion and dissatisfaction. They deliberately added more fuel to the fire they themselves had lit.”

Aside from Mr Bolsonaro, Ms Gama’s list of proposed indictments also targets dozens of others. 

They include General Braga Netto, who served as Mr Bolsonaro’s Defence Minister and then was his running mate. 

Federal police separately have already been investigating Mr Bolsonaro’s possible role in inciting the January 8 coup attempt.