More than 80 witnesses are expected to testify through video conferences in the next two weeks.

The trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is about to begin, accusing him of drawing a coup and leading a "criminal organization" to overturn the October 2022 election results in which he was nearly defeated by incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva.

The country's Supreme Court is expected to hear testimony from senior military and politicians in the next two weeks.

The 70-year-old far-right leader, a former Army captain, ruled in Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and could face 40 years in prison if convicted.

Bolsonaro denied the allegations, claiming he was a victim of "political persecution."

More than 80 witnesses will testify through video conferences, including General Marco Antonio Freire Gomes and Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior, who served as commander of the army and air force under Bolsonaro.

In a previous statement to the federal police, the pair said Bolsenro “raises the possibility of using legal means to phase out the 2022 election and justify military intervention.

According to prosecutors, the alleged conspiracy includes declaring a state of emergency, holding new elections and assassination of President Lula.

A 900-page federal police report details the plan, which prosecutors said eventually collapsed due to lack of support from the military.

The allegations also include the riots in Brasilia on January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsenro supporters attacked Congress, the Supreme Court and the Palace of the President a week after Lula's inauguration.

Prosecutors argue that although Donald Trump, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was in the United States, Bolsonaro, who believed he supported the violence, calling it the "last hope" for those seeking to overturn the election.

Seven of Bolsonaro's seven former aides are being tried with him, including four former ministers, a former naval commander and head of the Intellectual Services Department during his tenure as president.

This marks the first time that the Brazilian president has faced a coup since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985.

Bolsonaro often expressed admiration for the era, and had been banned from public office after claiming Brazil's electronic voting system.

Despite the ban, Bolsonaro expressed hope to return to politics. But speaking to UOL last week, he compared the charges to the "Telenovela scene" and warned that the conviction would be "the death penalty, political and physical death penalty."

When Bolsonaro was the leader of Brazil during the 19009 pandemic, he was seriously criticized when his policies and misinformation spread to the country, causing the highest overall death toll in Latin America, which was the second highest in the world from the United States.

Earlier this month, he was recently admitted to the hospital after undergoing a large abdomen surgery, the latest in a series of procedures in the 2018 stabbing attack.