Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro of overseeing a failed conspiracy to overturn the 2022 Brazilian election in a coup plot that included disbanding courts, empowering the military and assassinating the president-elect.
Four of the five justices weighing the case voted to convict Mr. Bolsonaro and seven co-conspirators, including his running mate, defense minister and Navy commander, in a forceful rebuke by one of the very institutions the men sought to overthrow.
Mr. Bolsonaro, 70, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison, though his lawyers are likely to request house arrest because of his health problems.
The conviction is a landmark ruling for Latin America’s largest nation. In at least 15 coups and coup attempts with links to the military since Brazil overthrew its monarchy in 1889, Thursday marked the first time the leaders of one of those plots have been convicted.
It also could deal a definitive blow to one of Latin America’s most important and influential political figures. Mr. Bolsonaro galvanized a right-wing movement that transformed Brazil into a more polarized and, in some ways, conservative nation — but his conviction now leaves the right without a clear leader.
At the same time, the ruling will very likely escalate the conflict between Brazil and the United States. President Trump had demanded that Brazil drop the charges against Mr. Bolsonaro, saying that, like him, the former Brazilian president was being politically persecuted for trying to reverse a rigged election.
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The post Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil appeared first on New York Times.
