"The conspirators used codenames to conceal their identities as they geared up for their mission: to plunge Brazil into chaos by assassinating a celebrity supreme court judge called Alexandre de Moraes. On an encrypted messaging group, one plotter used the alias Brazil, another Japan and a third Austria. Each of them had the name of a team, Moraes said this week as he denounced the alleged plot to murder him as part of an attempt to destroy South America's largest democracy."
"The group of football-loving would-be assassins abandoned their task at the last minute. I'm close to the position. Are you going to cancel the game? the person codenamed Austria asked their associates on their Signal group at just before 9pm on 15 December 2022, as he lurked near Moraes' home in Brazil's capital, Brasilia. Abort, replied Germany, according to a federal police report."
"The cinematic plot which was nicknamed Operation Copa 2022 (Operation World Cup 2022) and involved at least six special forces troops was at the heart of this week's historic trial of Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who was on Thursday sentenced to 27 years in prison for trying to stage a coup after he lost the 2022 election to his leftwing opponent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula."
Codenamed plotters used aliases and encrypted messaging to coordinate an assassination attempt targeting Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes and other leaders. The plan, nicknamed Operation Copa 2022, involved at least six special forces troops and included surveillance near Moraes' home, aborted at the last minute amid a Signal exchange. Authorities allege conspirators planned to use weapons capable of piercing a bullet-proof car and considered poisoning Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to induce organ failure. The scheme formed part of a broader effort to prevent the 2023 transfer of power and led to Jair Bolsonaro's conviction and a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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