It is the first time that a Brazilian ex -president is convicted of a coup attempt.
Miami, United States. -The Supreme Federal Court (STF) of Brazil condemned this Thursday, by majority (4-1), former president Jair Bolsonaro for a plan to cancel the 2022 elections and stay in power. The sentence imposed is 27 years and three months in jail, According to CNN in Spanish. This is the first time that a Brazilian ex -president is convicted of a coup attempt.
According to the same medium, four of the five judges declared Bolsonaro guilty for five crimes: planning a coup d’etat, belonging to an armed criminal organization, trying to abolish the democratic order, committing violent acts against state institutions and deteriorating protected public goods during the assault of January 8, 2023 to government buildings in Brasilia.
The majority vote configuration It was detailed by BBC News Mundo: Cámen lúcia, Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin supported the conviction, while Luiz Fux voted to acquit and questioned the competence of the STF to judge the case. The chain added that the 4-1 ruling “hinders Bolsonaro’s options” to reverse the decision.
According to CNN in Spanish, the Prosecutor’s Office said that the coup conspiracy included a plan to kill with explosives, weapons of war or poison to the then elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvato its vice president Geraldo Alckmin and Judge Alexandre de Moraes.
BBC News Mundo said that a collaborator, Mario Fernandes, admitted to having written a murder plan and printed in November 2022 before meeting Bolsonaro in the presidential palace; In addition, the investigations found a draft decree to stop Supreme Judges and convene new elections, as well as efforts to military commanders to declare a state of siege that was shipwrecked for lack of support.
The Christian Judge Zanin, last to vote, said: “An armed criminal organization made up of the defendants, who must be convicted of the factual circumstances that I consider proven.”
The STF also condemned seven ex -collaborators from Bolsonaro for their participation in the plot; Among them, four high military controls in retirement.
However, the former president and other defendants denied having acted badly. In the minority vote, Judge Luiz Fux warned against a “political trial” and was inclined to acquit due to lack of evidence, AFP said. Meanwhile, Alexandre de Moraes – also indicated by the alleged conspiracy – warned that “Brazil almost returned to a dictatorship,” according to AFP.
Bolsonaro, 70, has been in house arrest since August and did not attend audiences alleging health problems.
According to An EFE reportthe president of the United States, Donald Trump, said he was “surprised” by the majority vote to condemn Bolsonaro: “It is surprising that something like this can happen. It is similar to what they tried to do with me, but they did not succeed. I can only say this: I met him as president of Brazil, he is a good man.”
The sentence to 27 years and three months in jail places Bolsonaro among Latin American presidents with criminal cases or convictions, in a list that includes ex -presidents from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Honduras and Guatemala.
