Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in jail for plotting Brazil coup

[ad_1] Ione Wells South America correspondent in Brasília and

Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC Information

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5bba/live/8fe5ff20-8f61-11f0-824b-27b62254fc8b.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="EVARISTO SA/AFP via Getty Images Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gestures after taking medical tests at DF Star hospital in Brasilia on August 16, 2025. He is wearing a pale yellow polo shirt and touches his forehead with his hand. " class="sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi"/> EVARISTO SA/AFP by way of Getty Photos Jair Bolsonaro was discovered responsible of 5 costs

The previous president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in jail after being discovered responsible of plotting a army coup.

A panel of 5 Supreme Court docket justices handed down the sentence simply hours after they'd convicted the previous chief.

They dominated he was responsible of main a conspiracy geared toward preserving him in energy after he misplaced the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

4 of the justices discovered him responsible whereas one voted to acquit him. Bolsonaro's attorneys have referred to as the sentence "absurdly extreme" and stated that they'd file "the suitable appeals".

The Supreme Court docket panel additionally barred him from operating for public workplace till 2033.

Bolsonaro, who was put beneath home arrest after being deemed a flight danger, didn't attend this remaining part of the trial in individual.

However he has up to now stated it was designed to forestall him from operating within the 2026 presidential election - regardless that he had already been barred from public workplace on separate costs. He has additionally referred to as it a "witch hunt".

His phrases have beforehand been echoed by US President Donald Trump, who imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian items, framing them as retaliation for Bolsonaro's prosecution.

Reacting to the responsible verdict, Trump stated he discovered it "very stunning" and in contrast it to his personal expertise: "That is very very similar to they tried to do with me. However they did not get away with it in any respect."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Brazil's Supreme Court docket had "unjustly dominated to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro" and threatened to "reply accordingly to this witch hunt".

Brazil's overseas ministry reacted swiftly, posting on X that "threats just like the one made right now by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an announcement that assaults a Brazilian authority and ignores the information and the compelling proof on document, won't intimidate our democracy".

Bolsonaro, who's 70, now faces the prospect of spending the remainder of his life in jail.

His attorneys are anticipated to argue that he ought to be saved beneath home arrest as an alternative of being despatched to jail - in addition to plead for a decrease sentence.

They've additionally stated that they are going to enchantment towards his conviction however authorized specialists have stated this may increasingly show troublesome, as that is usually solely potential if two out of the 5 justices have voted to acquit.

Bolsonaro was discovered responsible of 5 costs, all regarding his try to cling to energy after he was overwhelmed within the 2022 election.

However prosecutors stated he had began to plot to remain in energy lengthy earlier than, proposing a coup to army commanders and sowing unfounded doubts concerning the electoral system.

In addition they stated that Bolsonaro knew of a plan to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential operating mate, in addition to a Supreme Court docket Justice.

The justices discovered he had led a conspiracy and likewise convicted seven of his co-conspirators, together with senior army officers. Amongst them are two former defence ministers, a former spy chief and former safety minster.

Whereas the plot did not enlist sufficient assist from the army to go forward, it did culminate within the storming of presidency buildings by Bolsonaro's supporters on 8 January 2023, the justices discovered.

Order was shortly restored and greater than 1,500 folks had been arrested.

However, in accordance with Alexandre de Moraes - the justice who oversaw the trial - Brazil had come near descending into authoritarianism.

"We're slowly forgetting that Brazil virtually returned to its 20-year dictatorship as a result of a legal organisation, comprised of a political group, does not know the way to lose elections," he stated earlier than casting his responsible vote.

Brazil's latest historical past and the many years it spent beneath army rule had been additionally invoked by Justice Cármen Lúcia, who solid the decisive third "responsible" vote on Thursday.

She in contrast the tried coup to a "virus", which, if left to fester, can kill the society through which it has taken maintain in.

The only real dissenting voice on the five-member panel was Luiz Fux, who argued in an 11-hour speech on Wednesday that the accusations towards Jair Bolsonaro had been unfounded and voted for him to be acquitted.

However on Thursday, Cármen Lúcia, the one girl on the panel, insisted that Brazil's democratic order had been in danger and warned that "there was no immunity to authoritarianism".