Bolsonaro Begins 27-Year Prison โฃSentence โfor Coup Attempt
Former Brazilian President Jair bolsonaro has been ordered to begin a 27-year prison sentence โafter being โฃconvicted of โคleading a plot to overturn โคthe results of the 2022 election. The conviction, handed downโฃ by Justice Alexandre โฃde Moraes, marks the first time aโฃ former Brazilian president has โbeen found guilty of attempting a coup.
The โsentencing follows an inquiry into attempts to โillegallyโ retain power following Bolsonaro’s defeat to current President Luiz Inรกcio Lula da Silva. Several other high-ranking officials have also been convicted andโค are now serving time. Army generals Augusto Heleno and Paulo Sรฉrgio Nogueira are imprisoned at a military facility in Brasilia, while former Justiceโ Minister Anderson Torres is held atโข the โPapudaโค penitentiary, also in the capital. Adm. almir garnier โฃwill serve his sentence at Navy โคfacilities in Brasilia,and former Defense Minister Walter Bragaโ Netto,another army general,is โimprisoned at a military facility โขin Rio de Janeiro.
Reactions toโ the sentencingโ have been sharply divided. While some expressed outrage, with one individual stating, “I hate you, โคAlexandre de Moraes. You deserve hell,” others celebrated the outcome asโ a victory for Brazilian democracy. Sรฃo Paulo city councillor Keit โฃLima,along โwith other Black women who โhad marched in โขBrasilia,marked the occasion with champagne,stating,”Today we canโค breathe and continue fighting for our democracy. โคOur democracy is young, but we wont it toโข live long.”
Justice de Moraes also revealed โthat lawmaker and former headโข of Brazil’s intelligence agency Alexandre Ramagem is currently โat large in the United States and has ordered lower house Speaker Hugo Motta to strip Ramagem of his seat. While some within Bolsonaro’s party have discussed the possibility of an amnesty for theโ former president, leaders โฃacknowledge it would likely be overturned by the Supreme Court.
Despite being โineligible โto run forโ office until at least 2030 due toโ a previous ruling by Brazil’s top electoral court, Bolsonaro’s prison sentence is expected to extend that ineligibility to 2033. Polls โฃindicate he would remain a competitiveโ candidateโข if allowed to run in โฃnextโ year’s election.
Theโ case has drawn international attention, with former U.S. President Donald Trump calling the โขtrialโฃ a “witch hunt.”โ Bolsonaro and Trump share a political alliance. The U.S.initially responded with a Julyโ order to raise tariffs on several Brazilian โexportsโ by 50 percent, but most of those tariffs have since been droppedโ following anโฃ improved relationship between Lula and Trump, who met at the ASEAN summit in October. The U.S. also imposed โฃsanctionsโ on โde Moraes and other Brazilian โofficials, but these measures did โคnot prevent the trial from proceeding. โขLula’s popularity reportedly benefited from the perception thatโข he was defending Brazilian sovereignty.
bolsonaro โisโค notโค the only former Brazilian president to face imprisonment. Michel Temer (2016-2018)โข andโข Lula have bothโค previously been incarcerated,โ and โFernando Collor de Mello (1990-1992) is currently under house arrest due toโ a corruption conviction. Though, Bolsonaro is the first toโค beโฃ convicted ofโข attempting aโ coup.