Jair Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Attempted Coup

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison this Thursday for attempting a coup against Lula, the Supreme Court ruled.

By a vote of four to one, five judges decided to sentence the leader of Brazil’s right-wing and far-right parties, accused of leading an armed criminal organization to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The majority decision by a panel of five Supreme Court judges makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted of attacking democracy.

The first to vote during the session on Tuesday, September 9, was Alexadre de Moraes, who presented his conclusions against the former president for nearly five hours, using a presentation of the evidence he had collected and, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office.

De Moraes gave a detailed account of the alleged coup plot, which began in June 2021, more than a year before the elections, and continued until January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaristas vandalized the headquarters of the three branches of government to incite a military intervention against Lula, who had taken office a week earlier.

Afterward, Flávio Dino, Lula’s former justice minister and a member of the Supreme Court since last year, spoke. He echoed the rapporteur’s vote, although he predicted lesser sentences for some of the accused.

“There was violence and serious threats,” Dino declared after summarizing the political turmoil that Brazil was plunged into after Bolsonaro refused to concede his defeat in the elections.

He cited roadblocks, attacks foiled by the police, and encampments set up by far-right activists in front of army barracks demanding that the Armed Forces prevent Lula from assuming power.

For the Wednesday 10th session, Luis Fux, another member of the Brazilian Supreme Court, called for the former president to be acquitted of being a coup leader, being the only vote against the conviction.

Furthermore, he defended the Court’s “absolute incompetence” to try a former president. He argued that the case should be heard by a lower court.