Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 presidential election won by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Photo by Andre Borges/EPA-EFE
Sept. 11 (UPI) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for his role in planning a 2023 coup that prosecutors claim may have included assassinating President Lula da Silva.
The nation’s Supreme Court voted to convict former Bolsonaro earlier on Thursday.
Three members of the court’s five-judge panel on Thursday voted to convict Bolsonaro, 70, on all five counts related to the coup attempt, CNN reported.
Justice Carmen Lucia Antunes Rocha delivered the deciding vote on Thursday and accused Bolsonaro of trying to “sow the malignant seed of anti-democracy,” according to The Guardian.
Justices Alexandre de Moraes and Flavio Dino on Tuesday also voted to convict the former president.
Justice Luiz Fux on Wednesday voted against the conviction and said there is “absolutely no proof” of Bolsonaro’s guilt.
Prosecutors charged Bolsonaro with plotting a coup, participating in an armed criminal organization, trying to end Brazil’s democracy by force, violent acts against the state and damaging public property.
Prosecutors also accused Bolsonaro of plotting the potential use of explosives, poison or weapons of war to assassinate Lula da Silva.
The charges arose from Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023, and carry a potential sentence of up to 43 years in prison.
The court is scheduled to sentence Bolsonaro on Friday after receiving the case’s final vote from Justice Cristiano Zanin.
The Brazilian Congress might approve an amnesty bill that would negate the conviction and enable Bolsonaro to run for president in 2026.
Bolsonaro is a former Brazilian military paratrooper and won election as the nation’s president in 2018.
Prosecutors said he began plotting against the Brazilian government in July 2021, which culminated in his supporters overrunning the nation’s Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace on Jan.8, 2023.