He is the first ex-Brazilian president to be convicted of a coup attempt
Brazilian Supreme Court justices have sent former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro to prison for 27 years and three months due to his attempt to stay in office even after being dethroned in the country’s 2022 elections, reported the Associated Press.
The five-judge panel convicted him on Thursday September 11 in a 4-1 decision. Bolsonaro was found guilty on five counts: a coup attempt after his loss to incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva which allegedly involved Lula’s murder; participation in an armed criminal organization; attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law; damage qualified by violence; and deterioration of listed heritage, per AP News.
Bolsonaro is the first former president to be convicted in this manner in Brazil’s history. Chief justice Luís Roberto Barroso described the trial as a “watershed moment in Brazil’s history” in a statement published by AP News.
Gen. Braga Netto, Admiral Almir Garnier, Gen. Augusto Heleno, and Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira also received significant jail terms as Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators. Netto, who was Bolsonaro’s defense minister and 2022 running mate, got 26 years. Garnier was sentenced to 24 years, Heleno to 21, and Nogueira to 19.
Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, a co-conspirator who cooperated with the investigation, received a two-year prison term under an open regime.
“It is the first time a former President, a former Defense minister and a former military commander are punished for trying to stop an elected government from taking office,” said Thomas Traumann, former government minister and political consultant, in a statement published by AP News. “The threats of the American government make this decision of the Supreme Court an even braver one.”
US President Donald Trump voiced his displeasure with the Supreme Court’s decision, as did US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In July, the US administration had set a 50 percent tariff on imported Brazilian goods as a statement of its support for Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian Supreme Court panel will have a 60-day window in which to release its ruling; subsequently, Bolsonaro will be given five days to file motions for clarification. His lawyers indicated that they would aim to appeal the conviction and sentence before the full 11-judge Supreme Court.
