Most of the Brazilian Supreme Court panel voted that former President Jea Bolsonaro had convicted him of plans to overturn the 2022 election.
The decision on the landmark case came to light Thursday when the third judge on a five-member panel found Bolsonaro guilty of all five counts he faced.
Bolsonaro was accused of joining armed criminal organizations, joining armed criminal organizations, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging protected public property on January 8, 2023 during a storm in a government building by supporters.
Prosecutors said that part of the coup plot involved a plot to assassinate Vice President Gerald Arcmin, who oversaw the trial of Bolsonaro, and President Louise Inacio Lula da Silva, vice president of Supreme Court Alexandre des Moraes, using weapons of explosives, war or poison.
At the trial, Bolsonaro and the other defendants denied any misconduct.
The evidence against Bolsonaro centered around how he tried to maintain power after losing the presidential election to Lula da Silva in 2022. Federal police said Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” about plans to overturn the election results, pressure the military to intervene, and create a parallel “crisis management office” to run the government.
Prosecutors have made efforts to undermine public confidence in the electoral system, claiming that the coup conspiracy began in 2021. After Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 election, prosecutors said the defendants tried to overturn the outcome by encouraging mobilization in Brasilia.
Moraes, the first justice to vote guilty on Tuesday, said the defendant “had committed all criminal offences attributed to by the Attorney General’s office.”
Judge Flavio Dino and Carmen Lucia voted for a conviction, sealing Bolsonaro’s fate with the majority of the three judges. Another Supreme Court judge will need to vote this week before officially signing a decision.
The conviction means that 70-year-old Bolsonaro could face decades in prison. The Supreme Court panel is expected to discuss the ruling after all justice has voted.
Advocates can still file appeals, but once these challenges are exhausted, the sentence will be final and prison conditions could come into effect.
The trials ahead of the 2026 general election are biased against Brazil. Over the weekend, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters buried the city on the country’s Independence Day to protest legal proceedings.
Bolsonaro has long argued that the trial was equivalent to a political witch hunt.
That sentiment is reflected by US President Donald Trump, one of his biggest political allies.
In July, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil if he fails to close the trial against the former president. His administration also approved Moraz for what is considered “serious human rights violations” and announced visa restrictions on him and other court officials on the Bolsonaro trial.
Bolsonaro supporters and some of Brazilian rights welcome Trump’s interest in the incident. However, the current administration of Brasilia, and many other administrations in Latin American countries, see it as a US interfering with the issue.
Judge Luiz Fux voted on Wednesday to be acquitted of the former president of all charges. He insisted that the events did not constitute a coup because Lula da Silva was never defeated. He also said the court had no jurisdiction to consider the case, but he said it should be nullified.
Bolsonaro has joined the Latin American leadership growth list in recent years to be convicted of a crime.
Last month, former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest after being pleaded guilty to procedural fraud and bribery of witnesses.
In 2022, former Argentine leader Christina Fernandez de Kirchner was convicted of corruption related to a public works contract.
And in 2017, Brazil’s current president, Lula da Silva, was found guilty of corruption and money laundering, serving in prison for more than a year before his conviction was later invalidated.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
