Former President Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years!
Brasília, Sep 11 (EFE).-
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced on Thursday to 27 years and three months in prison by the Supreme Court for conspiring to undermine democracy after losing the 2022 election to current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The ruling came from the court’s First Chamber, which on Thursday found Bolsonaro guilty in a 4-1 vote along with seven co-defendants, including former ministers and retired military commanders.
Although sentencing was expected on Friday, the panel decided to move immediately to the penalty phase.
Judges call Bolsonaro leader of criminal organization.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the case’s rapporteur, considered an aggravating factor that prosecutors described Bolsonaro as the “leader” of a “criminal organization” that plotted to prevent Lula from taking office after his October 2022 victory.
“The Prosecutor’s Office managed to describe a criminal organization that had a single objective: to prevent the transfer of power and install a dictatorship,” de Moraes said.
Bolsonaro and his allies were convicted of five crimes: attempting to abolish the democratic state, coup d’état, criminal organization, damage to protected heritage, and aggravated property destruction.
Plot traced back to 2021
According to prosecutors, the conspiracy began in June 2021, when Bolsonaro intensified efforts to discredit institutions and the electronic voting system as Lula began to rise in the polls.
The campaign escalated after Lula’s electoral win in October 2022, with widespread protests, attempted attacks foiled by police, and encampments outside military barracks where Bolsonaro supporters demanded the army block Lula’s inauguration.
Lula took office on Jan. 1, 2023. A week later, thousands of far-right activists left those camps to violently storm the presidential palace, Congress, and the Supreme Court in Brasília.
Prosecutors said the Jan. 8, 2023, riots were the culmination of the coup plot “personally led” by Bolsonaro.
Sentencing deepens Bolsonaro’s legal troubles
Bolsonaro now faces the longest prison sentence ever imposed on a former Brazilian head of state.
His conviction adds to mounting legal challenges that threaten to reshape the country’s political landscape.
“The evidence allows us to conclude that the defendants intended to break the democratic rule of law,” said Justice Cristiano Zanin, a former lawyer for President Lula, who cast the decisive vote for conviction.
Justice Cármen Lúcia Antunes underscored that Bolsonaro’s actions aimed to “damage and hijack the soul of the Republic by discrediting the electoral process.”
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, portraying the trial as politically motivated. His lawyers are expected to appeal. EFE
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