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In July, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil if the country did not end the trial against former President Bolsonaro.
A majority of judges on a five-member panel of Brazil's Supreme Court have voted to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of planning to overturn the country's 2022 elections, in a plot that prosecutors say aimed to assassinate the president-elect in an attempt to stay in power.
Bolsonaro has long insisted that the trial was a political witch hunt. This view has been supported by one of his biggest political allies, US President Donald Trump.
In July, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil if the country did not end the trial of former President Bolsonaro. His administration has also sanctioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for what it considers “serious human rights violations” and announced visa restrictions against him and other court officials over Bolsonaro’s trial.
The verdict in the landmark case became clear on Thursday when the third judge on the panel ruled that Bolsonaro was guilty of all five charges he faced. Bolsonaro is accused of plotting a coup, participating in an armed criminal organization, attempting to overthrow Brazil's democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging protected public property during the attack on government buildings by his supporters on January 8, 2023.
Part of the coup plot, prosecutors alleged, included a plan to potentially use explosives, weapons of war or poison to kill leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro's trial.
Bolsonaro and the other defendants in the trial have denied any wrongdoing. The evidence against Bolsonaro has focused largely on how he tried to stay in power after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula. Federal police said Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plan to overturn the election results, pressure the military to intervene and even create a parallel “crisis management office” to run the government.
Prosecutors had alleged that the coup plot began in 2021, with attempts to undermine public trust in the electoral system. After Bolsonaro's defeat in the 2022 election, prosecutors said the defendants tried to overturn the results by encouraging Bolsonaro's supporters to mobilize in Brasília, where they attacked and vandalized three government headquarters on January 8, 2023.
Moraes, who was the first judge to cast his guilty vote on Tuesday, said the defendants "have committed all the criminal offenses charged by the Attorney General's Office."
Judges Flávio Dino and Cármen Lúcia also voted to convict Bolsonaro, sealing his fate by a simple majority of three judges. Another Supreme Court judge must vote this week before the decision can be officially made.
The guilty verdict means Bolsonaro, who is 70, could face decades in prison. The Supreme Court panel is expected to discuss the sentence after all the judges have voted.
Defense attorneys can still file appeals, but once these objections are exhausted, the decision becomes final and any prison sentence can be enforced.
The trial, which comes ahead of general elections in 2026, has polarized Brazil. Over the weekend, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters filled the streets on the country's Independence Day to protest the legal proceedings.
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