Court Details and Reaction
Bolsonaro, 70, continued to be in his house and remained a flight risk and did not attend the sentencing in person. He stated that the case was to prevent him from running in the 2026 election, even though he was also disqualified from various charges. Again, Bolsonaro called the case a "witch hunt" on repeated occasions. Former US president Donald Trump also agreed with Bolsonaro, blasting the decision and comparing it to his campaign. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also decried the ruling as unjust, which saw Brazil's foreign ministry referring to it as an outside threat to Brazil's democracy.
Charges and Broader Implications
Bolsonaro was convicted of five charges for the actions to keep himself in office after losing the vote in 2022. The courtroom heard evidence that Bolsonaro had started preparing attempts to overthrow the government of Lula long before the election by persuading military leaders to back a coup and attacking confidence in the electoral process. Evidence was introduced that suggested that Bolsonaro knew of a plan to assassinate Lula, who was his running mate and a Supreme Court justice. Seven other co-conspirators, including two former defence ministers, two former chief spy chiefs, and a former security minister, were also found guilty. The justices found a connection between the unsuccessful coup on 8 January 2023, where Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings, which would have almost set Brazil back to authoritarian rule. Justice Alexandre de Moraes warned that Brazil only narrowly avoided returning to the past dictatorship, while Justice Cármen Lúcia equated the threat to a "virus" that is a threat to democracy. The lone dissenter, Luiz Fux, argued in an 11-hour opinion that the evidence against Bolsonaro was insufficient.
