Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro rallied thousands of people Sunday to a demonstration in Sao Paulo against charges levied by the Supreme Court that he plotted a coup.
The far-right leader's rally brought out around 45,000 people to the financial center's prestigious Paulista Avenue, according to a count by the University of Sao Paulo, many of them wearing the national football strip adopted by his supporters.
The former president's key demand is amnesty for those convicted of an attack in Brasilia on January 8, 2023.
That day, thousands of his backers stormed the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court demanding the military oust President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- who had narrowly triumphed over Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.
Bolsonaro himself will face trial for an alleged coup plot after the election, the country's Supreme Court decided last month -- a case that could torpedo his hopes of making a Donald Trump-style political comeback.
Bolsonaro has denied the charges.
Although he insists he wants to run again for president next year, Bolsonaro is barred from standing for office until 2030 for questioning the trustworthiness of the electoral system without evidence.
He has compared his situation to French far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, who was last month ruled ineligible for five years by a Paris court over an embezzlement scheme.
"What happened in France with Le Pen, happened in Brazil with me," he told AFP.
He lost to leftist rival Lula by a razor-thin margin.
Last month, Bolsonaro led an amnesty rally in Rio de Janeiro that drew thousands of demonstrators.
(AFP)
