The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has received a sentence of 27 years and three months in prison after being convicted of conspiring to execute a military coup.
A group of five justices from the Supreme Court delivered the sentence mere hours after convicting the former president.
They determined that he was guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy intended to maintain his power following his defeat in the 2022 election to his leftist opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Four justices found him guilty, while one justice voted for his acquittal. Bolsonaro’s legal team has described the sentence as “absurdly excessive” and indicated their intention to file “the appropriate appeals”.
The Supreme Court also prohibited him from seeking public office until 2060, which is eight years beyond the conclusion of his sentence.
Bolsonaro, who was placed under house arrest due to being considered a flight risk, did not attend this final stage of the trial in person.
However, he has previously stated that the proceedings were intended to obstruct his candidacy in the 2026 presidential election, despite already being barred from public office on unrelated charges. He has labeled it a “witch hunt”.
His sentiments have been echoed by US President Donald Trump, who imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian products, characterizing it as retaliation for Bolsonaro’s prosecution.
In response to the guilty verdict, Trump expressed that he found it “very surprising” and likened it to his own situation: “That’s very much like they tried to do with me. But they didn’t get away with it at all.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Brazil’s Supreme Court had “unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro” and warned of a potential “response accordingly to this witch hunt”.
Brazil’s foreign ministry reacted promptly, posting on X that “threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and disregards the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy”.
Bolsonaro, aged 70, now confronts the possibility of spending the remainder of his life incarcerated.
His legal team is anticipated to argue for his placement under house arrest rather than incarceration, in addition to seeking a reduced sentence.
They have also indicated their intention to appeal his conviction; however, legal experts suggest that this may be challenging, as such appeals are typically viable only if two out of the five justices have voted for acquittal.
Bolsonaro was convicted on five counts, all associated with his efforts to retain power following his defeat in the 2022 election.
Prosecutors asserted that he had begun plotting to maintain his position long before the election, suggesting a coup to military leaders and spreading baseless doubts regarding the electoral process.
Furthermore, they claimed that Bolsonaro was aware of a scheme to assassinate Lula, his vice-presidential candidate, and a Supreme Court Justice.
The justices determined that he orchestrated a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his accomplices, including high-ranking military officials. Among those convicted are two former defense ministers, a former intelligence chief, and a former security minister.
Although the plot failed to garner sufficient military support to proceed, it ultimately resulted in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro’s supporters on January 8, 2023, as found by the justices.
Order was swiftly reinstated, leading to the arrest of over 1,500 individuals.
However, according to Alexandre de Moraes, the justice who presided over the trial, Brazil was on the brink of sliding into authoritarianism.
“We are gradually forgetting that Brazil nearly reverted to its 20-year dictatorship due to a criminal organization, consisting of a political faction that does not understand how to accept electoral defeat,” he remarked before casting his guilty vote.
Brazil’s recent past and the years it endured under military governance were also referenced by Justice Cármen Lúcia, who cast the pivotal third “guilty” vote on Thursday.
She likened the attempted coup to a “virus,” which, if allowed to persist, can devastate the society in which it has taken root.
The only opposing opinion on the five-member panel came from Luiz Fux, who, during an 11-hour address on Wednesday, contended that the allegations against Jair Bolsonaro were baseless and cast his vote in favor of his acquittal.
However, on Thursday, Cármen Lúcia, the sole female member of the panel, emphasized that Brazil’s democratic framework was under threat and cautioned that “there was no immunity to authoritarianism.”
Source: BBC.COM
