Brazil's Ex-president Sent To Prison For 27 Years
- 12.09.2025, 10:26
For attempted coup d'état.
Brazil's Supreme Court has awarded the country's former president Jair Bolsonaro 27 years in prison for trying to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election and attempting to assassinate president-elect Lula da Silva.
It was reported by Reuters.
Four of the five judges on Brazil's Supreme Court panel voted to convict Bolsonaro on all five charges in the case and gave him a sentence of 27 years and three months in prison.
The politician was found guilty of planning a coup d'état, participating in an armed criminal organization, attempting to overthrow Brazil's democratic system by force, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging state property when his supporters stormed government buildings on January 8, 2023.
Prosecutors said part of the plot involved the possible use of explosives, military weapons or poison to assassinate leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,
The nature of the charges
The main evidence against Bolsonaro concerned his attempts to stay in power after his defeat in the 2022 presidential election in favor of Lula da Silva.
Federal police said the politician was "fully informed" of intentions to overturn the election results, pressuring the army to intervene and even setting up a parallel "crisis management office" to run the government.
Prosecutors claimed the plot began as early as 2021 to undermine public confidence in the electoral system.
After Bolsonaro's defeat in the 2022 election, the defendants tried to overturn the results by forcing the politician's supporters into the streets of Brasilia, where they stormed and vandalized three government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023.
Moraes, who was the first to support the prosecution on Tuesday, said the defendants "committed all the criminal offenses charged by the Attorney General's Office." Judges Flavio Dino, Carmen Lucia and Cristiano Zanin upheld Bolsonaru's verdict.
Defense attorneys can still file appeals, but once they are exhausted, the decision becomes final and any prison sentences can be carried out.
The 70-year-old Bolsonaru and other defendants denied any wrongdoing. and called the entire trial a political persecution.