Former Brazilian President Found Guilty of Plotting Coup 

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty Thursday of plotting a military coup and killing the current president to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat, and sentenced to 27 years in prison, the Associated Press reported.  

The 4-1 ruling by a panel of five justices of Brazil’s Supreme Court found the former right-wing president guilty on five counts: Bolsonaro was charged with leading a criminal organization, attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law, attempting a coup, and two counts of destruction of property. He is also accused of plotting to murder left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 election, and other officials, including a high-court justice who presided over the trial. 

Bolsonaro has denied all accusations as politically motivated and is expected to appeal. 

Earlier this week, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted to annul the case against Bolsonaro on jurisdictional issues, bolstering the odds of an appeal, Reuters reported. 

Fux’s vote could help Bolsonaro’s appeal: His defense team has argued that the case should be decided by the high court’s full bench of 11 justices, including two who were appointed by the former president. 

A lengthy appeals process would push the proceedings closer to the 2026 presidential campaign, in which Bolsonaro says he will take part in. However, he has been barred from running for office until 2030 in a separate case over his spreading of unfounded claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system.  

Meanwhile, the ruling, analysts say, is expected to deepen political divisions in the young democracy that has seen more than a dozen coup attempts but historically has opted for political reconciliation rather than prosecution.  

The case has already drawn Bolsonaro supporters out in protest over the past year, with tens of thousands taking to the streets across the country over the weekend, along with counter demonstrators. 

The verdict is also expected to cause a backlash from the US government: US President Donald Trump has called the trial a “witch hunt” orchestrated by political rivals to keep Bolsonaro out of next year’s presidential election: He has raised tariffs on Brazil in retaliation and sanctioned Brazilian officials overseeing the case.  

After the verdict Thursday, Trump called Bolsonaro a “good man” and drew parallels to his own experience. 

“I watched that trial. I know him pretty well,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I thought he was a good president of Brazil. And it’s very surprising that that could happen. That’s very much like they tried to do with me, but they didn’t get away with it at all.” 

Bolsonaro followed the trial from his home in the capital, Brasília, where he is being kept under house arrest. He is currently banned from using social media and has yet to comment on the verdict. 

Alexandre de Moraes, the first justice to cast his vote, said there was “no doubt” Bolsonaro plotted a coup. He added that there was more than enough evidence of a plan to assassinate the current president, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and de Moraes himself.  

“The government wanted to remain in power by simply ignoring democracy – and that is what constitutes a coup d’état,” he said Tuesday from the bench. “The leader of the criminal group made it clear – publicly and in his own words – that he would never accept defeat at the ballot, a democratic loss in the elections, and that he would never abide by the will of the people.”