Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted of attempting a coup in order to cling onto power following his loss in the country’s 2022 elections.
On Thursday, the populist ex-leader was found guilty by four out of five judges examining the case at Brazil’s Supreme Court, on all five counts he faced, making him the first Brazilian leader ever to be found guilty of an attempt to overturn an election. On house arrest in the lead-up to the verdict, he has now been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.
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Bolsonaro, 70, has always denied the charges against him, but experts say a successful appeal is unlikely.
The landmark trial has set Latin America’s biggest economy on edge, with Bolsonaro’s tens of thousands of supporters denouncing the prosecution as a “witch-hunt” and calling for his release. Others, meanwhile, have rallied in support of the prosecution and have demanded Bolsonaro’s formal arrest.
Washington, DC, too, has kept a close eye on the trial, with President Donald Trump, a close ally of Bolsonaro, making it plain that he is deeply opposed to the prosecution. He cited his displeasure when announcing 50 percent trade tariffs for Brazil in July.
On Thursday, following the verdict, Trump told CNN that he had followed the trial and reiterated his support for Bolsonaro, whom he called “a good man”.
Earlier this week, the White House hinted it could use its “economic and military might” if Bolsonaro was handed a guilty verdict.
Here’s what we know about the verdict and what it could mean for United States-Brazil relations:
What was the verdict and sentence?
Bolsonaro was tried on the following charges:
- Attempting a coup to remain in power
- Involvement in an armed criminal organisation
- Attempting to violently abort Brazil’s democratic rule of law
- Committing violent acts against state institutions
- Damaging protected public property when his supporters charged into government buildings in protest on January 8, 2023.
He has now been found guilty of all five counts and sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison.
Four out of the five Supreme Court justices who heard the case supported a guilty…