The Federal Supreme Court of Brazil has sentenced former Brazilian President (2019-2022) Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and 3 months in prison for an attempted coup aimed at preventing the current Brazilian leader Lula da Silva from coming to power.
The decision to convict Bolsonaro and sentence him to prison was made by four Supreme Court judges - Alexandre de Morais, Flavio Dinho, Carmen Lucia and Cristiano Zanin. Judge Luis Fuchs ruled in favor of acquitting the politician. Bolsonaro was found guilty by four votes “for” and one “against“.
As the Brazilian newspaper “O Globo“ notes, Bolsonaro was found guilty of “attempted coup d'état, creation of a criminal organization“ and violently undermining the rule of law.
Following the trial and sentencing, De Morais requested 24 years and 9 months in prison and 2 years and 6 months of detention for Bolsonaro. Fuchs abstained from supporting this request, while all other judges sided with De Morais.
Bolsonaro was found guilty of conspiring to prevent Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.
According to the case file, Bolsonaro and his entourage, including several military personnel, wanted to thwart Lula da Silva's inauguration and were preparing a coup attempt for December 15, 2022 - three days after the newly elected leader was presented with the certificate of being the country's 39th president. One of the plans discussed by the conspirators was Operation “Punjal Verde e Amarelo“ („Yellow-Green Dagger“), in which Lula da Silva, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alcmin and de Morais himself were supposed to be killed.
However, no coup attempt was made before Lula da Silva took office. At the same time, in January 2023, after he took office, Bolsonaro's supporters caused riots in the Brazilian capital and tried to seize government buildings. According to the authorities, about 5,000 people participated in the riots, and over 1,400 were detained.