The first of five Brazilian Supreme Court justices assigned to a high‑profile trial has found former president Jair Bolsonaro guilty of plotting a coup after his 2022 election loss, Justice Alexandre de Moraes said on Tuesday.

Moraes said there was "no doubt" a coup attempt took place and that Bolsonaro had led a "criminal organisation" behind efforts to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office. The former president will only be convicted if at least three of the five justices in the panel reach the same conclusion.

The charges against Bolsonaro and seven co‑defendants include trying to obstruct the transfer of power and organising a campaign that investigators say culminated in the storming of Brazil's Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on 8 January 2023. Moraes showed a document he said detailed the plan, codenamed "Operation Green and Yellow Dagger," and told the court parts of it had been produced at Brazil's presidential palace while Bolsonaro was in office.

Moraes said investigators had found evidence that the plot included plans to kill Lula, his running mate and Moraes himself. He also told the court that Bolsonaro had held meetings with Armed Forces commanders to discuss breaching constitutional norms. "This was written in the Brazilian government headquarters, at the same time that President Jair Bolsonaro was there," Moraes said.

According to the judge, the defendants failed to win enough military backing for a full takeover, but their actions helped set the stage for the violent events of 8 January, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked federal buildings. Order was later restored and authorities detained more than 1,500 people in the immediate aftermath.

Bolsonaro, who led Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022, has denied all charges. He was not present in the courtroom when Moraes announced his verdict; his lawyers said he was following the proceedings from his home in Brasília because of ongoing health problems stemming from a 2018 stabbing during a campaign event. Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest and banned from social media; his legal team has characterised the trial as politically motivated and said it aims to prevent him from running in the 2026 presidential election. He is already barred from holding public office until 2030 over previous findings that he spread unsubstantiated claims about Brazil's voting system.

The seven co‑defendants — which include several current and former military officers — have also denied wrongdoing.

The trial has deepened political divisions in Brazil. Supporters of Bolsonaro have criticised the five‑member panel, pointing to perceived ties between some justices and President Lula; critics of Bolsonaro argue that Brazil's institutions must act decisively when faced with efforts to subvert democratic processes. Brazil returned to civilian rule in 1985 after roughly two decades of military rule, a historical context frequently invoked by both sides during debate over the trial.

If convicted on all counts, Bolsonaro could face a lengthy prison term that prosecutors say would exceed 40 years. The remaining four justices on the panel will hear arguments and issue their decisions in the coming sessions; at least two additional guilty votes are required to reach a conviction.

The case is one of the most consequential in modern Brazilian history, testing the judiciary's response to an assault on democratic institutions and shaping the political landscape ahead of future elections.