Brazil’s former President, Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted of attempting to overturn the country’s 2022 election in a coup plot that prosecutors say included plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
A panel of the Brazilian Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty on all five counts, with four out of five justices voting to convict. He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup d’état, participating in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions, and damaging protected public property during the January 8, 2023 storming of government buildings by his supporters.
Prosecutors said the plan involved potentially using explosives, weapons of war, or poison to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial.
Federal police presented evidence that Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of the plan to overturn the election, pressure the military to intervene, and establish a parallel “crisis management office” to run the government.
The coup plot allegedly began in 2021 with Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit Brazil’s electronic voting system. After losing to Lula in 2022, prosecutors said he encouraged his supporters to mobilize in Brasília, leading to the violent January 2023 invasion of Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who cast the first guilty vote, said the defendants “committed all the criminal offenses imputed by the Attorney General’s Office.” Justices Flávio Dino, Cármen Lúcia, and Cristiano Zanin agreed. Justice Luiz Fux dissented, arguing the events did not amount to a coup since Lula was never overthrown.
The ruling also bars Bolsonaro, 70, from holding political office for eight years. His lawyers are expected to appeal.
The verdict has further polarized Brazil ahead of the 2026 general election. Thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters rallied on Independence Day to protest the trial, while his son Flavio Bolsonaro denounced the judgment as political persecution.
Bolsonaro, who has long claimed the case is a witch hunt, has received backing from U.S. President Donald Trump, who criticized the verdict and imposed tariffs and sanctions on Brazil over the proceedings. Washington has also sanctioned Justice de Moraes, drawing sharp rebukes from Brazil’s government.
Bolsonaro now joins a growing list of Latin American leaders convicted in recent years, including Argentina’s Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Colombia’s Álvaro Uribe, as well as Brazil’s current president, Lula, whose corruption conviction was later annulled
