Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced Thursday to more than 27 years in prison after a Supreme Court panel convicted him of attempting a coup.
A panel of judges sentenced him to 27 years and three months.
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The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted on Thursday to convict former president Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat, a ruling that will deepen political divisions and likely prompt a backlash from the United States government.
The far-right politician who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022 was found guilty on five counts by four members of a five-justice panel. The latest to rule were Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin on Thursday, a day after another justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed and voted to acquit the ex-president of all charges.
The panel is now deciding on Bolsonaro’s sentence, which could amount to decades in prison.
The 70-year-old former president is currently under house arrest. His lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict to the full Supreme Court of 11 justices.
Bolsonaro, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not attended the court and has sent his lawyers.
Trump called trial a ‘witch hunt’
The trial has been widely followed in a divided Brazil, with people backing the process against the former president, while others still support him. Some have taken to the streets to back the far-right leader.
Bolsonaro’s trial got renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump linked a 50 per cent tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally’s legal situation, calling it a “witch hunt.” Hours after the judges’ rulings, Trump said that he was “very unhappy” with the conviction. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, he said he always found Bolsonaro to be “outstanding.”
The conviction, he added, is “very bad for Brazil.”
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, said Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organization, and voted in favour of convicting him.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Bolsonaro to the White House on March 19, 2019. Trump has called the trial of Bolsonaro a ‘witch hunt.’ (Manuel Balce Ceneta/The Associated Press)
Bolsonaro faced accusations he attempted to illegally hang onto power after his 2022 electoral defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Prosecutors charged him with a total of five charges. They included attempting to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, as well as being implicated in violence and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
Lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, talked about his father Thursday on his social media platforms. But instead of mentioning his father’s conviction, he pushed for his amnesty, which he is seeking through Congress.
“It is time to do nothing less than what is correct, just,” he said.
Despite his legal woes, Bolsonaro remains a powerful political player in Brazil.
The far-right politician had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a separate case. He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge President Lula da Silva next year.
The ruling may push Bolsonaro’s allied lawmakers to seek some amnesty for him through Congress.