A majority of a Brazilian Supreme Court panel has convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of attempting to stage a coup to remain in power after the 2022 election. Three of five justices on the panel voted to convict Bolsonaro on all five counts he faced. The former president, who has been under house arrest since August, could face up to 40 years in prison.
Bolsonaro was charged with plotting a coup d’état, taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions, and damaging protected public property during the storming of government buildings by his supporters on January 8, 2023. Prosecutors alleged part of the coup plot involved a plan to use explosives, weapons of war, or poison to assassinate leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro’s trial.
Bolsonaro and other defendants in the trial have denied wrongdoing. The evidence against him centered on efforts to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to Lula da Silva. Federal police stated Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plan to overturn election results, pressure the military to intervene, and create a parallel “crisis management office” to run the government.
Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux voted to acquit Bolsonaro of forming a criminal organization and to annul his trial over jurisdiction, diverging from his peers. Fux argued the case should be heard by the full 11-member Supreme Court, taking 13 hours to read his dissent. Meanwhile, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled decisively against Bolsonaro, accusing him of orchestrating efforts to undermine democracy and calling him “the leader of a criminal organization.”
Moraes highlighted “overwhelming evidence” of a plot by elite army personnel to assassinate then-President-elect Lula and himself, citing a document codenamed Operation Green and Yellow Dagger, which was printed inside the presidential palace during Bolsonaro’s tenure. Bolsonaro plans to appeal the guilty verdict, with other defendants also denying the charges.