Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro will hold trial of the so-called coup plan. This is what happened next
São Paulo (AP) – A panel of justices from Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his colleagues will be tried on five counts, including an attempt to engage in a coup after the far-right leader lost his 2022 election.
The team will review existing evidence, possibly collect new evidence and hear testimony. Legal experts estimate that Bolsonaro can be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, although his actual jail time (if convicted) will be less than the procedure consideration.
Here is what happens after Wednesday’s ruling:
What allegations does Bolsonaro face?
Bolsonaro will be charged with attempting to carry out a coup, participating in armed criminal organizations, attempting to abolish democratic rule of law, with violence and serious threats to state assets and worsening of listed legacy.
The five judicial committees of the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled on the indictment of prosecutor Paulo Gonet. His formal charges come from an investigation by the federal police that has made Bolsonaro active since at least 2021.
Gonet also accused Bolsonaro of supporting a plan that included poisoning his successor, Luiz Inácio Lulada Silva and the killing of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
When will the experiment begin and what will happen?
Although a specific trial date has not been set, the Supreme Court panel chair is expected to outline the procedural framework in the coming days.
Eloísa Machado, a law professor at the University of Fundacao Getulio Vargas in Sao Paulo, explained that the evidence stages of criminal cases include defendant trials, witness testimony and other procedures such as expert inspections, such as initiation. Many of these procedures will be conducted by the auxiliary judge.
“The rapporteur then prepares the report and asks for a trial date,” Machado said. “After this stage, the prosecutor and defense attorney will decide in the court about whether the sentence is pronounced or the criminal.”
Bolsonaro’s defense team has requested that the case be sent to all Supreme Courts, not just in the 5 drivers team, which could drag the ruling into 2026, as all 11 justices have a say in the case. The request was denied.
Who will judge Judge Bolsonaro?
Brazil’s top courts use one of its two permanent 5 judicial panels to put the Bolsonaro trial. None of these five were appointed by Bolsonaro.
As a report of the case, Judge de Moras brought the charges to the one he sat.
The other four judges are Cármen Lúcia, considered one of the toughest in criminal cases. Cristiano Zanin, the group chairman and Lula’s lawyer from 2013 to 2023; Flávio Dino was appointed in 2023 after he served as attorney general after the appointment of the left-wing president. The court’s Chief Judicial Association (Luiz Fux) between 2020 and 2022 considers it moderate.
Will Bolsonaro go to jail?
Brazilian criminal law stipulates that arrests only occur after a final, unobstructed conviction.
The Brazilian Supreme Court is the final appeal court for criminal cases involving public authorities, with final jurisdiction over the Bolsonaro case.
If the former president takes any measures to hinder the court’s ability to perform his ruling, such as seeking asylum in an embassy, he may be arrested before the trial is over.
What did Bolsonaro say?
Bolsonaro, who was banned from running until 2030 for abuse of power and undermined confidence in the country’s voting system, denied misconduct and claimed he was the target of political persecution.
“If I go to jail, I will provide you with a lot of work,” Bolsonaro said after the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday.
Are other Brazilian presidents on trial?
Lula was ruled in 2017 by Lower Court Justice Sergio Moro, and his verdict was later upheld by a group of magistrates. He served more than a year and was released after the Supreme Court changed his jurisprudence to prohibit any Brazilian from being imprisoned until all appeals were exhausted.
In 2021, the same court ruled that Lula’s verdict was found to be biased. Moro left the federal judge and became Bolsonaro’s attorney general.
Michel Temer, who held jurisdiction between 2016 and 2018 after Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, was acquitted by federal court in 2024 for corruption and money laundering cases. He was briefly arrested in 2019 for profiting from fraudulent contracts between State-owned Nuclear and AF Company Consulting Co., Ltd. and Engevix while serving as Vice President.
Fernando Collor, who ruled impeachment from 1990 to 1992, was sentenced to eight years and ten months in jail for his role in the then-state-owned BR Distriburea. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict last year, but the collider has not been jailed.
Senior Army to be heard in the Supreme Court for the first time
Including senior military officials to trial in Brazil’s Supreme Court is unprecedented, as the country’s transition from a military dictatorship to democracy in the 1980s is marked by amnesty given to military personnel.
Four senior military officials operating under Bolsonaro will be tried. These are former Secretary of Defense Paulo Sérgio Nogueira; former Navy Commander Almir Garnier Santos; General Augusto Heleno, who retired from the Office of Security of the Organization; and General Walter Braga Netto, who served as Chief of Staff and Secretary of Defense for Bolsonaro.
“Four-star generals accused of planning a coup could be convicted and punished,” said João Roberto Martins Filho, a political science professor at the Federal University of San Carlos and former president of the Brazilian Defense Research Association. “Anyone who attempts a military-backed coup and failing can face the consequences we see now. They may end in prison.”
____ Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese contributed to the report.
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