Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted Thursday by a five-justice panel of the country’s Supreme Court of attempting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 presidential election and was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison. Four of the five justices voted to convict him, making Bolsonaro the first former Brazilian president found guilty of trying to overturn an election in the country with Latin America’s largest economy.
Prosecutors charged Bolsonaro with five crimes, including attempting a coup, participating in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage qualified by violence, and deterioration of listed heritage. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case, said the evidence showed Bolsonaro carried out a series of acts from 2021 through Jan. 8, 2023, that together constituted an attempted coup. The alleged actions included repeated public attacks on Brazil’s electronic voting system, drafting a decree intended to annul the election results and encouraging the Jan. 8, 2023, riots that sought to force a military takeover.
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing. He will not be sent to prison immediately and will remain under house arrest for now. The court panel has up to 60 days to publish the full written ruling; once that ruling is released, Bolsonaro’s attorneys will have five days to file motions for clarification. His defense team has said it will seek to appeal both the conviction and the sentence to the full 11-justice Supreme Court, though legal experts expressed doubt the full court would accept such an appeal.
“It’s unlikely, but not impossible, that there will be appeals to the full Supreme Court,” said Rafael Mafei, a lawyer and law professor at the University of São Paulo and ESPM. “But of course, the defenses will try, because they should.” The Supreme Court’s press office told The Associated Press that under court jurisprudence an appeal to the full court can be accepted only if at least two justices in the original panel dissent. In this case, only one justice dissented.
If Bolsonaro’s sentence becomes final, he could be transferred to incarceration. As a former president, he would be entitled to special incarceration facilities rather than a regular prison; authorities have said such detention could take place at the Federal Police’s main building in Brasília.
The conviction occurs amid wider legal and political entanglements for Bolsonaro. He was previously barred from running for office until 2030 in a separate case. Despite his legal troubles, he remains a significant political force in Brazil, and the ruling may intensify pressure on him to designate a political heir ahead of next year’s elections. Lawmakers allied with Bolsonaro may also pursue legislative measures, including proposals for amnesty.
The verdict has drawn reactions beyond Brazil. U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the conviction, linking it to trade policy and characterizing the process as a “witch hunt,” and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said on social media that Washington “will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.” Some analysts and observers have suggested the United States could consider measures such as targeted sanctions, visa restrictions, or tariff actions in response to developments surrounding the trial and the judiciary, though they stressed the outcomes were unpredictable. Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said possibilities include broader visa restrictions or tariffs.
The ruling marks a milestone in Brazil’s recent political history and sets in motion a series of legal steps that will determine whether the sentence is upheld and whether Bolsonaro faces detention outside his home. The defense’s immediate filings and any subsequent decisions by the full Supreme Court will shape how and when the sentence might be enforced, while the political repercussions are likely to unfold through the coming months as candidates and parties position themselves for the next national vote.