Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro Sentenced To 27 Years In Prison

Jair Bolsonaro. (Wikimedia Commons/Palurco do Planlih)

JAKARTA - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on Thursday, after being found guilty of planning a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election.

The panel's guilty verdict consisting of five Brazilian Supreme Court judges, who also approved the ruling, made Bolsonaro (70) the first former president in Brazilian history to be convicted of attacking democracy, and drew criticism from the Trump administration.

"This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present, and its future," Judge Carmen Lucia said before voting to punish Bolsonaro, referring to the history of military coups and attempts to overthrow democracy.

There is a lot of evidence that Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, is acting "with the aim of eroding democracy and institutions," he added.

Four of the five judges decided to punish the former president for five crimes: engage in armed criminal organizations; seek to eliminate democracy with violence; organized a coup; and damaged government property and protected cultural assets.

This may exacerbate the anger of Bolsonaro's close ally, United States President Donald Trump, who has called the case a "witch hunt" and in retaliation, he imposed sanctions on Brazil with an increase in tariffs, sanctions on presiding judges and visa revocations for most Supreme Court justices.

When asked about the verdict on Thursday, President Trump again praised Bolsonaro, calling the verdict "very bad."

"I think this is very bad for Brazil," he said.

Witnessing his father's US verdict, Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro told Reuters he expected Trump would consider imposing further sanctions on Brazil and its Supreme Court justices.

President Luiz Inighcio Lula da Silva said he was not afraid of new sanctions from the US in interviews with the band's local TV channel hours before Bolsonaro's verdict was confirmed.

The ruling was unanimous, with Judge Luiz Fux on Wednesday having different opinions from his colleagues by releasing the former president from all charges and questioning the court's jurisdiction.

The single vote could pave the way for a lawsuit against the ruling, which could speed up the settlement of the trial near the October 2026 presidential election.

Bolsonaro himself has repeatedly said he will be a candidate in the election despite being barred from running.

Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement the sentence was "very excessive" and they would file a suitable appeal.

The Supreme Court also decided to punish the seven allies of Bolsonaro, including five military officers.

This ruling marks the first time since Brazil became a republic nearly 140 years ago, military officials have been convicted of trying to overthrow democracy.

"This trial is a warning to the armed forces," said Carlos Fico, a historian studying the Brazilian military at Rio de Janeiro Federal University.

"They must be aware that something has changed, considering there has never been a penalty before, and now there is," he said.