Coup trial in Brazil
Brazil's Supreme Court has sentenced former President Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for an attempted coup. In the end, four of the five judges voted in favor of the conviction.
Brazil's former President Bolsonaro has been found guilty of attempted coup d'état. Four of the five judges of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) voted in favor of the conviction during deliberations. Shortly thereafter, the 70-year-old's sentence was announced: He faces 27 years and three months in prison.
Bolsonaro is the first Brazilian president to be convicted of an attempted coup after taking office. He has been under house arrest since the beginning of August for violations of certain conditions and is being monitored because of his flight risk. According to his lawyers, he did not attend the hearings in court for health reasons.
Appeal possible
The judges had announced their decisions one after the other over the past few days, a common practice in Brazil. The dissenting vote of Judge Luiz Fux, who voted for acquittal on Wednesday, could pave the way for Bolsonaro to file an appeal, according to Reuters. This appeal would then have to be heard before the court's full panel of eleven judges, which could delay the conclusion of the proceedings until shortly before the 2026 presidential election.
Fux justified his vote by arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction over the case. He argued that the case should have been heard in lower courts since Bolsonaro was no longer in office.
His four colleagues, however, considered it proven that Bolsonaro led a"criminal organization" to stay in power after his election defeat."Brazil has almost returned to dictatorship," Judge Alexandre de Moraes said on Tuesday.
Supporters stormed government headquarters in 2023
Bolsonaro is accused of plotting a coup attempt against the government of his left-wing successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after his election defeat, together with the military and allies. The prosecution believes he planned to declare a state of emergency and call new elections – but he was unable to gain the support of the military leadership.
On January 8, 2023, shortly after Lula took office, Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace. Bolsonaro is also said to have known about assassination plans against Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Tension between Lula and Trump
The case was brought before the Supreme Court—there is no higher court. However, limited appeals are possible within the Supreme Court, for example, in cases of formal ambiguities or non-unanimous verdicts.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly declared himself innocent. The charges also led to serious tensions between Lula and US President Donald Trump. Trump had repeatedly praised Bolsonaro. He also imposed tariffs on Brazil, declaring them retaliation for"Brazil's insidious attacks on free elections."
The US president now described Bolsonaro's conviction as "very surprising." Trump told reporters that Bolsonaro had been a "good president of Brazil." He drew parallels to the legal proceedings against him in recent years."This is similar to what they tried to do to me, but they didn't get away with it," he said.
