Jair Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting to Overturn Brazil’s 2022 Election

Brasília: Former  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison. The country’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) found Bolsonaro guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy to overturn the 2022 presidential election, in which he was defeated by current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The verdict, delivered on Thursday, came after months of legal proceedings, testimonies, and investigations that revealed a sweeping plot to subvert Brazilian democracy. A five-member panel of Supreme Court justices presided over the case, and by a vote of four to one, found Bolsonaro guilty on multiple counts, including leading a criminal organisation, attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law, and organizing a coup d’état. The only dissenting vote came from Justice Luiz Fux, who questioned the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that Bolsonaro, no longer holding public office, should not be tried directly by the STF.

Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid is lieutenant colonel in the Brazilian Army. He was an aide-de-camp to Jair Bolsonaro I Image Courtesy: AP

Testimony from Bolsonaro’s former aide, Mauro Cid, who turned state witness, played an important role in the case. According to Cid, Bolsonaro had personally received, reviewed, and edited a draft decree that would have allowed him to declare a state of emergency and void the results of the 2022 election. The decree, prosecutors argued, would have served as the legal foundation for a military-backed seizure of power. Investigators also uncovered communications and internal plans, code-named “Green and Yellow Dagger,” which included preparations for the assassination of President Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The plot ultimately culminated in the violent events of January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the National Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace in Brasília. The attack, which bore chilling similarities to the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington D.C., caused extensive damage and led to hundreds of arrests. Though Bolsonaro was not present in Brazil during the attacks—he had traveled to Florida days earlier—prosecutors contended that the uprising was the direct result of his months-long campaign to delegitimize the election and his behind-the-scenes efforts to orchestrate a power grab.

Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, storm the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 8, 2023 I Image Courtesy: AP

In addition to the prison sentence, the court barred Bolsonaro from holding any public office until at least 2033, reinforcing a previous ruling by Brazil’s electoral court that had already declared him ineligible to run for office due to his repeated dissemination of false claims about Brazil’s electronic voting system. The Supreme Court also maintained Bolsonaro’s house arrest, citing him as a flight risk, especially following his attempts to communicate with allies via banned social media platforms.

Bolsonaro’s legal team condemned the ruling, arguing that it was politically motivated and based on circumstantial evidence. His lead attorney, Marcelo Bessa, stated that the defense would appeal the verdict both domestically and before international courts. “This is nothing less than political persecution. Not a single shred of hard evidence supports the claims made against President Bolsonaro,” he said in a statement following the sentencing.

Luiz Inácio Lula I Image Courtesy: AP

The Lula administration has defended the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of the trial, insisting that no individual—regardless of their political stature—is above the law. In a public address, Justice Minister Flávio Dino stated that the verdict was a “victory for democracy” and a “clear message that Brazil will not tolerate threats to its constitutional order.”

Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump, a close political ally of Bolsonaro, denounced the conviction as a “witch hunt against a true patriot.” The United States has also imposed a 50 percent tariff on a variety of Brazilian goods and announced sanctions against Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom Trump accused of “abusing judicial power for political ends.”

Despite the international outcry from certain right-wing political figures, many democratic governments and human rights organisations have expressed support for Brazil’s legal process. This case is widely regarded as the most consequential legal proceeding in Brazil since the country returned to democracy in the 1980s.