A Brazilian court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison. The verdict, delivered on Thursday, stems from his role in an attempted coup following the storming of government buildings in Brasília on January 8, 2023.
The panel of judges ruled 4 to 1 in favor of the conviction, finding Bolsonaro guilty of armed criminal association, attempted subversion of the democratic rule of law, sedition, vandalism through force, serious threats and property damage. The charges relate to his actions and rhetoric surrounding the events where supporters breached security and occupied key government institutions in the capital, purportedly to trigger a military intervention.
Alongside Bolsonaro, seven other individuals have also faced charges in connection with the incident. These include Alexandre Ramagem, former director of Brazil’s intelligence agency; Anderson Torres, ex-justice minister; and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former defense minister.
Bolsonaro served as President of Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022. Prior to his departure from office, he narrowly lost the presidential election to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula himself had previously spent over a year in prison during Bolsonaro’s presidency.
