The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices on Thursday voted to convict former president Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.
The far-right politician who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022 was found guilty on five counts by three members of a five-justice panel.
Prosecutors charged Bolsonaro with attempting to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, 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.
The 70-year-old is currently under house arrest. His lawyers have said that they will appeal the verdict to the full Supreme Court of 11 justices. Bolsonaro, who has denied any wrongdoing, has not attended the court and has sent his lawyers.
Since the trial began in 2023, Lúcia has followed de Moraes in almost every decision. Zanin, who is Lula’s former attorney, has also sided with de Moraes in most convictions so far, but disagreed with him on penalties he deemed too harsh for other participants in the coup plot.
Justice Luiz Fux on Wednesday disagreed with his two peers who voted a day earlier, on Tuesday, saying there was not enough evidence against Bolsonaro in any of the charges. Fux took more than 13 hours to explain his vote before the panel of justices — and despite what appeared to be upset looks from other justices, there were no challenges to his lengthy delivery.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow…
