Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced Thursday to 27 years and three months in prison after being convicted of plotting a coup to cling to power following his 2022 election loss, in a landmark ruling that makes him the first ex-president in the nation’s history to be punished for crimes against democracy.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices delivered the conviction, with four voting to find Bolsonaro guilty on charges including taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democracy, organizing a coup, and damaging government property. Only Justice Luiz Fux dissented, acquitting the 70-year-old former leader and questioning the court’s jurisdiction.
Justice Carmen Lucia, who cast her vote in favor of conviction, described the case as a reckoning with Brazil’s turbulent past. “This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present and its future,” she said, noting the country’s long history of coups and authoritarian rule.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain known for praising Brazil’s 1964–1985 military dictatorship, is currently under house arrest. His legal team called the sentence “absurdly excessive” and vowed to appeal.
The verdict reverberated internationally, drawing sharp condemnation from his ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, who denounced the trial as a “witch hunt” and retaliated by imposing tariffs on Brazilian goods, sanctioning the presiding judge, and revoking visas for most Supreme Court justices. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s stance, declaring on X that Washington would “respond accordingly.” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry fired back, describing the comments as threats that undermined the country’s sovereignty. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, however, dismissed fears of U.S. sanctions, saying Brazil’s democracy would not be intimidated.
The case against Bolsonaro stems from efforts to overturn his 2022 defeat to Lula, during which prosecutors said he encouraged unrest and mobilized supporters to question the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system. In January 2023, violent mobs stormed Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace in Brasília, an episode widely compared to the January 6 attack in the United States.
The conviction extends beyond Bolsonaro himself. Seven of his allies, including five military officers, were also found guilty. Historians say the ruling represents a turning point for Brazil’s armed forces, which have long escaped accountability for attempts to undermine democracy. “The trial is a wake-up call for the armed forces,” said Carlos Fico of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. “They must be realizing that something has changed, given that there was never any punishment before, and now there is.”
Bolsonaro’s political career has been marked by controversy. Rising from the city council in Rio de Janeiro to nearly three decades in Congress, he was long viewed as a fringe figure until mass protests against corruption propelled him into the presidency in 2018. His tenure was defined by confrontations with democratic institutions, skepticism of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and soaring Amazon deforestation under his watch.
Barred from public office until 2030 due to prior rulings, Bolsonaro has nevertheless insisted he will seek the presidency again in 2026. “They want to get me out of the political game next year,” he told Reuters in a recent interview. “Without me in the race, Lula could beat anyone.”
For Lula’s allies, the conviction is a resounding affirmation of democratic resilience. Gleisi Hoffmann, the government’s Institutional Relations Minister, said the ruling “ensures that no one dares again to attack the rule of law or the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.”
But the sentence could further inflame Brazil’s already polarized political climate. Supporters view Bolsonaro’s prosecution as political persecution, while opponents see it as long-overdue accountability for a leader who pushed the country to the brink of authoritarianism.
As appeals loom and international tensions rise, Brazil now faces a pivotal test: whether its institutions can withstand the strains of punishing a former president while steering a divided nation toward its next election.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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