Brazil’s Supreme Court finds Jair Bolsonaro guilty of coup charges

Justices of the Brazilian Supreme Court meet for the verdict and sentencing phase of a trial for those charged in an alleged coup plot to keep Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro in office after his 2022 election defeat. (Photo: AP)

There is only one pending justice to vote. Once all five justices have voted, the panel will decide on Bolsonaro’s sentence, which could amount to decades in prison.

Donald Trump reacts

US President Donald Trump came out in strong defense of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. rump said he was shocked and disappointed by the decision. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he described Bolsonaro as “an outstanding leader” and called the ruling “a terrible thing for Brazil.” Trump added,  “I watched that trial. I know him pretty well, a foreign leader. I thought he was a good president of Brazil. And it’s very surprising that that could happen.”

Claiming the charges against Bolsonaro were similar to what he himself has faced, Trump continued, “That’s very much like they tried to do with me, but they didn’t get away with it at all. But I can always say this: I knew him as the president of Brazil. He was a good man, and I don’t see that happening.”

What judges said

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, said Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organization, and voted in favour of convicting him. Earlier Thursday, Lúcia also voted to convict Bolsonaro of organized crime in connection with the alleged coup attempt.

The 70-year-old former president is currently under house arrest. His lawyers have said that they will appeal the verdict to the full Supreme Court of 11 justices.

Bolsonaro denied all charges

Bolsonaro is accused of attempting to illegally hang onto power after his 2022 electoral defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Prosecutors charged him with a total of five charges. They include attempting to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, as well as being implicated in violence and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.

Bolsonaro, who has denied any wrongdoing, is a former Army captain who never hid his admiration for the military dictatorship that killed hundreds of Brazilians between 1964 and 1985.

From army paratrooper to President of Brazil

His political journey began in the 1980s as a city lawmaker after a brief career as an army paratrooper. He went on to be elected as a congressman in Brasilia, where he quickly became known for his defense of authoritarian-era policies.

His reputation as a firebrand was fuelled by interviews like one in which he argued that Brazil would only change “on the day that we break out in civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do: killing 30,000.”

Burning anti-establishment anger helped lay the path for his successful 2018 presidential run.

Bolsonaro’s presidency was marked by intense scepticism about the pandemic and vaccines and his embrace of informal mining and land-clearing for cattle grazing, pushing deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest to record highs.

As he faced a close re-election campaign against Lula in 2022 – an election that Lula went on to win – Bolsonaro’s comments took on an increasingly messianic quality, raising concerns about his willingness to accept the results.

Trump called Bolsonaro’s trail a witch hunt

The trial has been followed by a divided society, with people backing the process against the former president, while others still support him.

A supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro protests his Supreme Court trial in Sao Paulo. (Photo: AP)

Some have taken to the streets to back the far-right leader, who had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a separate case.

Bolsonaro, who has been described as the ‘Trump of the Tropics,’ has gained the support of the US President. Trump, who termed Bolsonaro’s trial a “ witch hunt,” had also imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods.