Brazilian Federal Police Recommends Charges Against Malafaia for Coup Obstruction — Pastor Indicted Alongside Bolsonaro and Eduardo

Brazil’s Federal Police on August 21, 2025 recommended charges against evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, alongside former president Jair Bolsonaro and his son Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, in the ongoing investigation into the January 8, 2023 storming of Brasília’s government buildings and subsequent obstruction of the judicial proceedings that followed.

The police allegations against Malafaia:

• Played “a central role in designing strategies to pressure judges”
• Advised Bolsonaro to link US tariffs on Brazilian goods to amnesty demands for January 8 rioters
• Helped orchestrate intimidation of the Supreme Federal Court
• Encouraged Bolsonaro to circumvent court-imposed social media restrictions

Prior to the recommendation, the STF (Supreme Federal Court) had ordered Malafaia’s home searched, banned him from leaving Brazil, seized his passport and cell phone, and ordered him to testify to police immediately.

The investigation of Malafaia was triggered, in significant part, by filmmaker Petra Costa’s documentary Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix, released July 14, 2025), which documented Malafaia’s role in Bolsonaro’s government and included footage of Malafaia appearing to mouth words simultaneously with Bolsonaro at a rally in which both appeared to coordinate statements disrespecting the Supreme Court. Costa stated that federal police and the Supreme Court were not investigating Malafaia prior to the film’s release.

As of mid-2026, the case awaits the Prosecutor General’s Office decision on whether to proceed with formal charges before the STF.

Context: Bolsonaro himself was convicted by the STF and sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt. Malafaia’s indictment extends the accountability question to the pastoral figure who provided the theological legitimation and strategic advice throughout the coup-planning period.

Cross-reference: malafaia-silas — full actor profile.