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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced Thursday to 27 years and three months in prison after the country’s Supreme Court convicted him of plotting a coup to cling to power following his 2022 election loss. The ruling marked the first time in Brazil’s history that a former president has been convicted of crimes against democracy — a dramatic fall for one of the world’s most visible far-right populists.
The 70-year-old former army captain, under house arrest, was convicted on charges including leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to violently abolish democracy, organizing a coup, and damaging government property. Four of the five justices voted to convict.
“This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present and its future,” Justice Carmen Lucia said in announcing her vote. She added that Bolsonaro acted “with the purpose of eroding democracy and institutions.”
Global political shockwaves
Bolsonaro’s conviction follows recent legal setbacks for far-right leaders abroad, including France’s Marine Le Pen and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. It also provoked immediate backlash from his closest international ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, who denounced the ruling as “a terrible thing.”
“I think it’s very bad for Brazil,” Trump said Thursday, after his administration imposed tariff hikes and sanctions on the Brazilian justices overseeing the case. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed the criticism on X, calling the trial a “witch hunt” and pledging that Washington would “respond accordingly.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro, the former president’s son and a Brazilian congressman, said he expected Trump to impose further sanctions in the coming days.
Dissent and legal challenges ahead
The verdict was not unanimous. Justice Luiz Fux voted to acquit Bolsonaro, questioning the court’s jurisdiction. That dissent may open a legal avenue for appeals, potentially pushing the case’s conclusion closer to the 2026 presidential election. Bolsonaro has vowed to run again despite being barred from office until 2030.
“They want to get me out of the political game next year,” Bolsonaro told Reuters before the ruling. “Without me in the race, Lula could beat anyone.”
A turbulent political journey
Bolsonaro rose from a fringe congressman in the 1980s to president in 2018 on a wave of anti-establishment anger fueled by Brazil’s massive “Car Wash” corruption scandal. During his presidency, he downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic, supported illegal mining in the Amazon, and often praised Brazil’s 1964–1985 military dictatorship.
As he faced reelection in 2022, Bolsonaro’s rhetoric grew increasingly apocalyptic. “I have three alternatives for my future: being arrested, killed, or victory,” he told evangelical leaders in 2021. Lula da Silva ultimately defeated him in the bitterly contested race.
Protecting democracy
The conviction represents a landmark in Brazil’s efforts to safeguard democratic institutions. Alongside Bolsonaro, seven allies — including five military officers — were convicted, marking the first time since Brazil’s founding as a republic nearly 140 years ago that military figures have been punished for coup plotting.
“The trial is a wake-up call for the armed forces,” said Carlos Fico, a historian at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. “They must be realizing that something has changed, given that there was never any punishment before, and now there is.”
Lula’s Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann praised the ruling, saying it ensures “that no one dares again to attack the rule of law or the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.”
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led Brazil’s judicial crackdown on anti-democratic movements, called the convictions proof that the judiciary would not shy from defending democracy. Critics, however, decry the court’s actions as politically motivated.
For Bolsonaro, the sentencing cements his downfall from fiery populist president to convicted felon. For Brazil, it underscores the fragility — and resilience — of its young democracy.
