Ex-Brazilian president convicted of attempting coup

The former leader faces a decades-long jail sentence for conspiring to overturn the results after losing his 2022 re-election bid

The Brazilian Supreme Court has convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of attempting to overturn the country’s 2022 election. The ruling leaves the politician facing a decades-long sentence for leading a criminal conspiracy.

The outcome became clear on Thursday, when the third judge of the five-member panel determined that Bolsonaro was guilty of all five counts he faced. Bolsonaro was charged with planning a coup d’etat, taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, damaging protected public property, and committing violent acts against state institutions.

Prosecutors said the coup plot began in 2021 with attempts to erode public trust in Brazil’s electoral system. After Bolsonaro’s 2022 defeat, they alleged his supporters were urged to mobilize in the capital, Brasilia, where they stormed and vandalized the nation’s three branches of government on January 8, 2023.

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Bolsonaro and other defendants in the trial have denied wrongdoing. The guilty verdict means that the ex-president, who is 70, could face decades in prison. The Supreme Court panel is expected to discuss sentencing after all the justices have voted.

The case has already led to tensions with the United States, after President Donald Trump called it a “witch hunt” and imposed steep 50% tariffs on Brazil. The Trump administration has also sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for what it considers “serious human rights violations” and announced visa restrictions against him and other court officials over Bolsonaro’s trial.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has condemned Trump’s attempts to use tariffs to pressure Brazil over the trial. He has also accused the US of having “helped stage a coup,” and vowed not to forget it. 

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