Rio De Janeiro, Mar 26 (AP) A panel of Brazil's Supreme Court justices wrapped up a first day of proceedings on Tuesday to determine whether former president Jair Bolsonaro and close allies will stand trial on five counts, including attempting to stage a coup, without reaching a decision.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet charged Bolsonaro last month with plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 election to his opponent and current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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Part of that plan allegedly included poisoning Lula and killing Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of Bolsonaro.

Five Supreme Court justices -- including de Moraes, the rapporteur -- opened proceedings around 9:45 am (local time) in Brasilia to rule on the charges levelled by Gonet.

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The first day came to a close around 17:15 pm (local time), without any justice casting their vote on whether to accept the charges.

The proceedings will begin again on Wednesday morning.

If a majority votes in favour, the accused will become defendants in a criminal case.

Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices also stand accused of participating in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage qualified by violence and a serious threat against the state's assets, and deterioration of listed heritage.

The criminal organisation was active between July 2021 and January 2023, de Moraes said at the beginning of the proceedings on Tuesday.

He said the group's practices comprised “a series of malicious acts aimed at abolishing the democratic rule of law and deposing the legitimately elected government".

Gonet, who spoke after de Moraes and had 30 minutes to present his indictment of the accused, said the group had sought to maintain Bolsonaro in power "at all costs".

"The criminal organisation documented its project and during the investigations, manuscripts, digital files, spreadsheets and exchanges of messages were found," Gonet said.

On Tuesday afternoon, the justices voted on a series of issues raised by the lawyers.

Bolsonaro's defence team had been pushing for the case to be sent to the full Supreme Court, where two of the 11 justices were appointed by the former president. A majority voted against.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says that he's being politically persecuted.

Bolsonaro was present at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Speaking earlier in the morning to journalists at Brasilia's airport, Bolsonaro again denied the accusations.

“I'm fine. I always hope for justice. Nothing is substantiated in the accusations, made in a biased way, by the Federal Police,” Bolsonaro said, referring to the 884-page report filed in late November.

Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction alone carries a sentence of up to 12 years, but when combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars.

Observers say that it's likely that the charges will be accepted.

“There is no shadow of a doubt that there are very clear elements” that crimes were committed, said Thiago Bottino, a law professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a think-tank and university.

“The current tendency is that there will be a criminal trial.” (AP)

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