Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted of attempting a coup to stay in office after losing his reelection bid in 2022.
He is the first former president found guilty of trying to overturn an election in the country with the largest economy in Latin America. Bolsonaro has always denied wrongdoing.
Four of the five justices on the Supreme Court panel voted to convict him Thursday and sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison. But this doesn’t mean he will go to prison right away.
Prosecutors charged him with five crimes, including attempting a coup after losing the 2022 race to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, participating in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage qualified by violence, and deterioration of listed heritage.
According to the evidence presented by the attorney general, Bolsonaro gathered Cabinet and military officials to discuss an emergency decree that would have suspended the election results in order to investigate unproven electoral fraud claims.
Source: Associated Press
