The first section of the Supreme Court of Brazil sentenced the former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years of age and three months in prison for led a coupting conspiracy aimed at “perpetuating himself in power”, after losing the 2022 elections against the current head of state, Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva.
It is an unprecedented sentence, as it is the first time that a former Brazilian president was sentenced for attempted coup. Four of the five judges of the section recognized the right leader and seven of his allies, including former ministers of his government (2019-2022) and high military officers, for a total of five crimes against the democratic order.
“The central objective of the criminal organization was to guarantee the permanence of Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s power,” said Cristiano Zanin, president of the first section.
Bolsonaro, 70 years old, received the heaviest sentence. Only one of the magistrates voted for the acquittal of the former head of state.
After the sentence, Trump said he was “surprised” and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned that his country will respond to the verdict against the far -right leader. Six of the eight condemned belong to the armed forces.
Among the other condemned there is the former commander of the navy Almir Garnier. Three generals of the reserve also include the list: Augusto Heleno, Paulo Sèrgio Nogueira and Walter Braga Netto. All four were sentenced to penalties between 19 and 26 years in prison.
The sentence is not yet definitive; It is possible to appeal. The majority of the Court accepted the thesis of the Prosecutor’s Office, considering Bolsonaro responsible for having exploited the State structures to implement a plan aimed at dismantling the constitutional powers, by force the government of Lula with force and establish a “true dictatorship”.
The supervisor judge, Alexandre de Moraes, listed thirteen acts of the plot, which took shape in the middle of 2021, shortly after Lula had regained his political rights, following the cancellation of the sentences for corruption, and had started to go back to the surveys in view of the 2022 elections. “Bolsonaro has exploited the state apparatus and mobilized agents and public resources to spread false narratives social instability in order to perpetuate itself in power, “said the magistrate.
The conspiracy, “widely tried”, began with a ferocious disinformation campaign against the institutions and elections, took shape with serious threats to the authorities and, finally, tried to carry out “an authoritarian project of power” through violent acts continued until January 8, 2023. That day the last attempt took place: thousands of Bolsonarists invaded and vandalized the seats of the presidency, Supreme, in Brasilia, to encourage military intervention.
Bolsonaro, who has always denied that he wanted to organize a coup, listened to the sentence from home, to Brasilia, for health reasons. His hopes are now placed in an amnesty promoted by his party in Parliament and in new penalties of the Trump government, so far ineffective.
In 2023 he was declared ineligible for eight years and is still investigated for attempting to hinder the process for coupism, for having spread false news and for having appropriated jewels that should have been part of the state heritage. In the meantime, on the streets, there have been shy celebrations of the left and few protests, with little turnout, by the supporters of Bolsonaro.