Brazilian Court Hands Bolsonaro 27-Year Prison Sentence for Coup Plot
Brazil’s Supreme Court has handed former president Jair Bolsonaro a 27-year and three-month prison sentence after finding him guilty of orchestrating a plot to overturn the results of the 2022 election.
A majority of the court’s justices ruled that Bolsonaro led efforts to subvert democracy by encouraging violent attacks on state institutions and backing plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors said the former leader operated at the center of a network that sought to keep him in power despite losing at the ballot box.
The conviction covers five criminal counts, including attempting a coup d’état, leading a criminal organization, and undermining Brazil’s democratic order. The decision marks the first time in Brazil’s modern history that a former president has received such a heavy sentence for crimes against the state.
Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest since early this year, remains in custody while his lawyers prepare an appeal. His defense team denounced the trial as political persecution, while Lula’s government hailed the ruling as a decisive step in protecting democratic institutions.
The verdict has already sent shockwaves through Brazil’s political landscape. Bolsonaro retains a loyal base of supporters, many of whom staged protests outside the court, accusing the judiciary of bias. Analysts warn the ruling could deepen political divisions, though it also reaffirms the independence of the judiciary in Latin America’s largest democracy.
International observers, including rights groups and governments across the region, have called the sentencing a landmark moment in accountability for attempts to subvert democracy.
Bolsonaro’s appeal process is expected to take months, but unless overturned, the former president faces spending the next two decades behind bars.
