The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of plotting a military coup.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence just hours after convicting the former leader.
They ruled that he was guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Four of the justices found him guilty while one voted to acquit. Bolsonaro’s lawyers described the sentence as “absurdly excessive” and said they would file “the appropriate appeals.”
The Supreme Court also barred him from running for public office until 2033.
Bolsonaro, who was placed under house arrest after being deemed a flight risk, did not attend this final phase of the trial in person.
He has previously claimed the case was designed to prevent him from running in the 2026 presidential election – even though he had already been barred from public office on separate charges. He has repeatedly called it a “witch hunt.”
His claims have been echoed by US President Donald Trump, who imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, framing them as retaliation for Bolsonaro’s prosecution.
Reacting to the guilty verdict, Trump said he found it “very surprising” and compared it to his own experience: “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 also criticised the ruling, saying Brazil’s Supreme Court had “unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro” and warning that the United States would “respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”
Brazil’s foreign ministry responded swiftly, posting on X: “Threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy.”
Bolsonaro, who is 70, now faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. His lawyers are expected to argue that he should be kept under house arrest rather than sent to jail, as well as plead for a lower sentence.
They have also confirmed plans to appeal against his conviction, though legal experts say this may prove difficult, as appeals are normally only possible if two out of the five justices have voted to acquit.
Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges, all relating to his attempt to cling to power after losing the 2022 election.
Prosecutors said he began plotting long before the vote, proposing a coup to military commanders and sowing unfounded doubts about the electoral system. They also alleged that Bolsonaro knew of a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice-presidential running mate, and a Supreme Court justice.
The justices ruled that he had led a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his co-conspirators, including senior military officers. Among them were two former defence ministers, a former spy chief, and a former security minister.
Although the coup plot failed to secure sufficient support from the military, it culminated in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro’s supporters on 8 January 2023. Order was quickly restored, and more than 1,500 people were arrested.
According to Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial, Brazil had come close to sliding into authoritarian rule.
“We are slowly forgetting that Brazil almost returned to its 20-year dictatorship because a criminal organisation, comprised of a political group, doesn’t know how to lose elections,” he said before casting his guilty vote.
Justice Cármen Lúcia, who cast the decisive third guilty vote on Thursday, also drew on Brazil’s history under military rule.
She likened the attempted coup to a “virus,” warning that, if left unchecked, it could “kill the society in which it has taken hold.”
The sole dissenting justice, Luiz Fux, argued in an 11-hour speech on Wednesday that the accusations against Bolsonaro were unfounded, and he voted to acquit.
On Thursday, however, Justice Cármen Lúcia, the only woman on the panel, insisted that Brazil’s democratic order had been at risk and cautioned that “there was no immunity to authoritarianism.”
