Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been found guilty of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.
Bolsonaro was convicted by a Supreme Court majority today.
The presumptive ruling by a majority of a panel of five justices in Brazil’s Supreme Court makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted for attacking democracy.
Three judges so far have voted to convict, one acquitted, while one remains to vote, though the majority is enough to see the ex-president convicted.
Bolsonaro was accused of five offences including taking part in an armed criminal organisation, attempting to violently abolish democracy, organising a coup, and damaging government property and protected cultural assets.
“This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present, and its future,” Justice Carmen Lucia said before she voted to convict Bolsonaro of attempting a coup, a reference to previous attempts to overthrow democracy in the country’s history.
There was ample evidence, she added, that Bolsonaro acted “with the purpose of eroding democracy and institutions”.
It is expected that his prison sentence, which could span several decades, will be decided by Friday.
Bolsonaro’s close ally, Donald Trump, has previously called the case a “witch hunt”.
The former Army captain began his presidency in 2019 but left his post after losing to his left-wing opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the 2022 elections.
On January 8, 2023, supporters of Bolsonaro who refused to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace.
Bolsonaro has been barred from running for office again until 2030.
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