BOLSONARO JAILED: BRAZIL’S FORMER PRESIDENT HANDED 27-YEAR SENTENCE FOR COUP PLOT

Historic Verdict Sends Shockwaves Across Brazil and Beyond, Trump, US Secretary of State React in Fury

In an extraordinary ruling that has shaken Brazil’s political landscape, former President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for masterminding a failed plot to overturn the results of the 2022 election and cling to power.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court delivered the landmark judgment late Thursday, convicting Bolsonaro on five separate charges, including leading a conspiracy to subvert democracy, conspiring with military officers, and tolerating an assassination plot targeting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his running mate, and a Supreme Court justice.

The verdict was reached by a 4–1 majority, with Justice Cármen Lúcia casting the decisive vote, warning that “Brazil’s democracy came perilously close to collapsing into authoritarianism.”

Bolsonaro, 70, who had been under house arrest, was absent from court when the sentence was handed down. His lawyers condemned the judgment as “absurdly excessive,” vowing to appeal and seeking to keep him under house arrest instead of serving time behind bars.

The court also barred Bolsonaro from running for public office until 2033, effectively ending his political career.

International Fallout

The ruling has sparked intense international reaction. Former US President Donald Trump rushed to Bolsonaro’s defense, calling the conviction “very surprising” and likening it to his own legal battles: “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 went further, branding the verdict “unjust” and warning Washington might “respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry swiftly hit back, declaring that “threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio… will not intimidate our democracy.”

The Coup That Failed

Prosecutors revealed that Bolsonaro’s plan to remain in power began long before his 2022 defeat. He allegedly urged military commanders to support a coup, spread disinformation about Brazil’s electronic voting system, and tacitly endorsed violent schemes, including assassination plots.

The conspiracy reached its peak on January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace in scenes likened to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. More than 1,500 people were arrested, but the uprising was swiftly crushed.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the case, did not mince words: “Brazil almost returned to its 20-year dictatorship because a criminal organization, led by a political faction, did not know how to lose an election.”

A Nation at a Crossroads

The lone dissenting justice, Luiz Fux, argued that the accusations were unproven, insisting Bolsonaro should be acquitted. But with the majority ruling against him, Bolsonaro now faces the grim prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

The sentence marks one of the most dramatic reckonings in Brazil’s modern history—an emphatic rejection of authoritarianism in a country still haunted by its decades-long military dictatorship.

For Bolsonaro’s supporters, it is the ultimate symbol of political persecution. For his opponents, it is a defining moment of accountability. For Brazil, it is a test of whether democracy can withstand the weight of its past and the fury of its present.