SAO PAULO — Brazil’s Supreme Court has unanimously decided that ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, along with seven associates, will be tried on five charges, including allegedly plotting a coup following his defeat in the 2022 election.
The court panel will examine existing evidence, potentially gather new evidence, and hear testimonies. Legal experts suggest Bolsonaro could face a prison sentence of up to 40 years. However, the actual time served, if convicted, could be less due to legal procedures.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect following Wednesday’s ruling:
What are the charges against Bolsonaro?
Bolsonaro will be tried for allegedly attempting a coup, involvement in a criminal organization that used weapons, attempting to violently overthrow the democratic rule of law, causing damage with violence and serious threats to state assets, and damaging listed heritage sites.
The five-justice panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court based its ruling on the indictment by Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet. The formal accusation stemmed from a federal police investigation that identified Bolsonaro as the leader of a criminal organization active since at least 2021.
Gonet also accused Bolsonaro of backing a plan that reportedly involved poisoning current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and assassinating Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
When will the trial begin, and what will happen?
While a specific trial date hasn’t been determined, the Supreme Court panel chairman is expected to outline the procedural steps soon.
Eloísa Machado, a law professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas university in Sao Paulo, stated that the evidence-gathering phase of the criminal case will commence, including questioning defendants, hearing witness statements, and conducting expert examinations. Auxiliary judges will handle many of these procedures.
“Afterward, the rapporteur will prepare a report and request a trial date,” Machado explained. “Following this, prosecutors and defense lawyers will present their final arguments before the court decides whether to acquit or convict.”
Bolsonaro’s defense team had requested that the full Supreme Court hear the case instead of just the five-justice panel, which could delay a ruling until 2026 as all 11 justices would need to weigh in. This request was denied.
Who will judge Bolsonaro?
Brazil’s highest court is using one of its two permanent five-justice panels to try Bolsonaro. None of the five justices were appointed by Bolsonaro.
Justice de Moraes, as the case rapporteur, brought the charges before the panel he sits on.
The other four justices are Cármen Lúcia, known for her strict stance on criminal cases; Cristiano Zanin, the panel’s chairman and Lula’s lawyer from 2013 to 2023; Flávio Dino, appointed by the current leftist president in 2023 after serving as his justice minister; and Luiz Fux, the court’s chief justice between 2020 and 2022, considered a moderate.
Will Bolsonaro be imprisoned?
Brazilian criminal law stipulates that arrests can only occur after a final conviction with no further appeals possible.
As the final court of appeal for criminal cases involving public officials, the Supreme Court of Brazil holds ultimate jurisdiction over Bolsonaro’s case.
If the former president takes any actions hindering the court’s ability to rule, such as seeking refuge in an embassy, he could be arrested before the trial concludes.
What has Bolsonaro said?
Bolsonaro, barred from running for office until 2030 for abusing his power and undermining trust in the voting system, denies any wrongdoing and claims he’s a victim of political persecution.
“If I am jailed, it will create a lot of work for you all,” Bolsonaro stated after Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision.
Have other Brazilian presidents been tried?
Lula was found guilty of corruption and money laundering by lower court judge Sergio Moro in 2017, a sentence later confirmed by a group of magistrates. He spent over a year and seven months in prison before being released after the Supreme Court changed its rules, prohibiting imprisonment until all appeals are exhausted.
In 2021, the same court overturned Lula’s conviction, citing bias on Moro’s part. Moro subsequently left his position as a federal judge to become Bolsonaro’s justice minister.
Michel Temer, who was president from 2016 to 2018 following Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, was acquitted in 2024 by a federal court in a corruption and money laundering case. He was briefly arrested in 2019, accused of profiting from fraudulent contracts between state-owned Eletronuclear and companies AF Consult Ltd and Engevix during his time as vice president.
Fernando Collor, president from 1990 until his impeachment in 1992, was sentenced to eight years and ten months in prison in 2023 for his involvement in a corruption scheme at the then state-run BR Distribuidora. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence last year, but Collor has yet to be imprisoned.
High-ranking military officials to be tried before the Supreme Court for the first time
It is unprecedented for high-ranking military officials to face trial in Brazil’s highest court, as the country’s transition from military rule to democracy in the 1980s involved a broad amnesty for military personnel.
Four high-ranking military officials who served under Bolsonaro will be tried: former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira; former Navy commander Almir Garnier Santos; retired Gen. Augusto Heleno, who led the Institutional Security Office; and retired Gen. Walter Braga Netto, who was Bolsonaro’s chief of staff and defense minister.
“Four-star generals accused of plotting a coup are now likely to be convicted and punished under Brazil’s democratic legal system,” stated João Roberto Martins Filho, a political science professor at the Federal University of Sao Carlos and former president of the Brazilian Association of Defense Studies. “Anyone attempting a military-backed coup that fails could face consequences like what we’re seeing now. They could end up in prison.”
—Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese contributed to this report.