Former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being sentenced guilty of plotting a military coup.
Five Supreme Court ruled that Bolsonaro was guilty of leading a conspiracy that would keep him in power over his left-wing rival in the 2022 election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Four of the justices found him guilty while one voted to acquit him, which makes it difficult for Bolsonaro to appeal against his conviction. Typically, an appeal requires two of five acquittals. The one judge who wanted to spare Bolsonaro was was Luiz Fux, who argued in an 11-hour speech on Wednesday that the accusations were unfounded.
The other prosecutors say that Bolster proposed a coup to military commanders and was in on a plan to assassinate Lula, his proposed Vp, and a Supreme Court Justice.
When the coup failed to enlist complete military support, Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed government buildings in 2023, leading to 1,500 arrests.
Now, seven co-conspirators were therefore arrested together with Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers have called the sentence “absurdly excessive” and swore to file “the appropriate appeals”. But prosecutors see it as a slippery slope into authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has called it a witch hunt, and was backed by the Trump administration. Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods and has as much as called them retaliation for Bolsonaro’s prosecution.
The Supreme Court panel has further barred him from running for public office until 2060 – eight years after the end of his sentence. That, however, seems less important to someone who is 70, and will therefore likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Unless, of course, his lawyers succeed in keeping him under the house arrest that prevented his presence at his own trial. They will also plead for a lower sentence.
