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| Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting Brazil coup | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges | Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges |
| The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of plotting a military coup. | The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being found guilty of plotting a military coup. |
| A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence just hours after they had convicted the former leader. | A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence just hours after they had convicted the former leader. |
| They ruled he was guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. | They ruled he was guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. |
| Four of the justices found him guilty while one voted to acquit him. | Four of the justices found him guilty while one voted to acquit him. |
| Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, did not attend the trial but has in the past called it a "witch hunt". | Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, did not attend the trial but has in the past called it a "witch hunt". |
| His words have previously been echoed by US President, Donald Trump, who imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, framing them as retaliation for Bolsonaro's prosecution. | His words have previously been echoed by US President, Donald Trump, who imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, framing them as retaliation for Bolsonaro's prosecution. |
| Reacting to the guilty verdict, Trump said he found it "very surprising" and compared it to his own experience: "That's very much like they tried to do with me. But they didn't get away with it at all." | Reacting to the guilty verdict, Trump said he found it "very surprising" and compared it to his own experience: "That's very much like they tried to do with me. But they didn't get away with it at all." |
| US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Brazil's Supreme Court had "unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro" and threatened to "respond accordingly to this witch hunt". | |
| Brazil's foreign ministry reacted swiftly, posting on X that "threats like the one made today by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy". | |
| Bolsonaro, who is 70, now faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. | Bolsonaro, who is 70, now faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. |
| His lawyers are expected to argue that he should be kept under house arrest instead of being sent to jail. | His lawyers are expected to argue that he should be kept under house arrest instead of being sent to jail. |
| They will also plead for a lower sentence. | They will also plead for a lower sentence. |
| However, they will not be able to appeal against the verdict itself, as that would only have been possible if two out of the five justices had voted to acquit. | However, they will not be able to appeal against the verdict itself, as that would only have been possible if two out of the five justices had voted to acquit. |
| Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges, all relating to his attempt to cling to power after he was beaten in the 2022 election. | Bolsonaro was found guilty of five charges, all relating to his attempt to cling to power after he was beaten in the 2022 election. |
| But prosecutors said he had started to plot to stay in power long before, proposing a coup to military commanders and sowing unfounded doubts about the electoral system. | But prosecutors said he had started to plot to stay in power long before, proposing a coup to military commanders and sowing unfounded doubts about the electoral system. |
| They also said that Bolsonaro knew of a plan to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, as well as a Supreme Court Justice. | They also said that Bolsonaro knew of a plan to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, as well as a Supreme Court Justice. |
| The justices found he had led a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his co-conspirators, including senior military officers. Among them are two former defence ministers, a former spy chief and former security minster. | The justices found he had led a conspiracy and also convicted seven of his co-conspirators, including senior military officers. Among them are two former defence ministers, a former spy chief and former security minster. |
| While the plot failed to enlist enough support from the military to go ahead, it did culminate in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro's supporters on 8 January 2023, the justices found. | While the plot failed to enlist enough support from the military to go ahead, it did culminate in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro's supporters on 8 January 2023, the justices found. |
| Order was quickly restored and more than 1,500 people were arrested. | |
| But, according to Alexandre de Moraes - the justice who oversaw the trial - Brazil had come close to descending into authoritarianism. | |
| "We are slowly forgetting that Brazil almost returned to its 20-year dictatorship because a criminal organisation, comprised of a political group, doesn't know how to lose elections," he said before casting his guilty vote. | |
| Brazil's recent history and the decades it spent under military rule were also invoked by Justice Cármen Lúcia, who cast the decisive third "guilty" vote on Thursday. | |
| She compared the attempted coup to a "virus", which, if left to fester, can kill the society in which it has taken hold in. | |
| The sole dissenting voice on the five-member panel was Luiz Fux, who argued in an 11-hour speech on Wednesday that the accusations against Jair Bolsonaro were unfounded and voted for him to be acquitted. | |
| But on Thursday, Cármen Lúcia, the only woman on the panel, insisted that Brazil's democratic order had been at risk and warned that "there was no immunity to authoritarianism". |