Brasilia: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being convicted of plotting a coup to cling to power following his 2022 election defeat.
A panel of five justices on Brazil’s Supreme Court found the 70-year-old former army captain guilty of five crimes, including attempting to violently abolish democracy, organizing a coup, and taking part in an armed criminal organization. Four justices voted for conviction, while Justice Luiz Fux dissented, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction.
“This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present, and its future,” Justice Carmen Lucia said before casting her vote, noting Bolsonaro had acted to erode democracy and institutions.
The ruling made Bolsonaro the first former president in Brazil’s history to be convicted for undermining democracy. Seven of his allies, including five military officers, were also found guilty, in what historians say is the first punishment of military officials for attempting to overthrow civilian rule since Brazil became a republic nearly 140 years ago.
Bolsonaro, who has long praised the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985, is under house arrest and has vowed to appeal, calling the sentence absurdly excessive. His lawyers said they would pursue all legal remedies.
The conviction drew immediate criticism from US President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has already imposed tariffs on Brazilian goods, sanctioned the presiding judge, and revoked visas for several Supreme Court justices.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio remarked that the ruling was unjust. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry condemned Rubio’s remarks as a threat and insisted that its democracy will not be intimidated.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in 2022, dismissed fears of further US sanctions, stating that, “Brazilian democracy will not bow to external pressure.”
Bolsonaro’s conviction caps a dramatic political journey. Once a fringe congressman known for defending authoritarian-era policies, he rose to power in 2018 by channeling public anger over corruption scandals and promising conservative reforms.
The political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue, as he and others on Brazil’s supreme court have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 11, 2025
His presidency, however, was marked by vaccine skepticism during the pandemic, soaring deforestation in the Amazon, and escalating rhetoric questioning Brazil’s electronic voting system.
In 2023, Brazil’s electoral court barred him from office until 2030 for spreading false claims about the vote. Despite the ruling, Bolsonaro has repeatedly signaled plans to run in the 2026 presidential election.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has spearheaded investigations into Bolsonaro and his allies, has become a polarizing figure, praised by Lula’s supporters as a defender of democracy and denounced by Bolsonaro’s camp as politically motivated.
Gleisi Hoffmann, Lula’s Institutional Relations Minister, said the outcome ensures that no one dares again to attack the rule of law or the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.
