Bolsonaro, convicted of coup d'état. Cartoon of 23/09/2025 in CTXT
In a landmark ruling, Brazil's Supreme Court sentenced Jail Bolsonaro to 27 years and 3 months in prison for participating in a coup attempt after he lost the October 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro thus becomes the first former head of state to be convicted of coup plotting.
Four of the five Supreme Court judges who convicted him considered that there is sufficient evidence that the former president participated in a conspiracy to facilitate a coup d'état, and the judge rapporteur has considered the aggravating factor that the prosecution has deemed him to be the"leader" of a"criminal organisation".
On 8 January 2023, Bolsonaristas invaded the three seats of power in Brasilia. Hordes of fascist followers of Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Three Powers Square in Brasília and forced their way into the Congress building, destroying everything in their path, including works of art, and behaving like mindless individuals. Something very similar, or a reflex action, to what happened on 6 January 2021 with the assault on the US Capitol by the Trumpists.
Monument. Cartoon of 14/01/2023 in CTXT
The Bolsonaristas' aim was to try to prevent Lila da Silva's inauguration and called for a "federal intervention", which never took place. Now, according to the ruling, it is proven that Bolsonaro instigated his supporters to block roads with trucks all over the country and even to camp in front of army barracks to demand the annulment of Lula's election as president and a military intervention by the armed forces.
Bolsonaro, copying to the millimetre all the worst of Trumpist practices, also tried to prevent Lula from voting by setting up checkpoints in areas of left-wing influence, questioning the reliability of the voting machines without any proof and hinted that he would not accept the results of the elections if paper ballots were not used.
The investigation confirms that during those days, Bolsonaro met with armed forces commanders to propose a "state of emergency" and annul the election result. However, a lack of support from the air and land military prevented the conspiracy from succeeding.
One of Bolsonaro's aides admitted before the Supreme Court to having drafted a plan to assassinate Lula and his vice-president, Gerardo Alckmin.
Now, the Brazilian right and the United States continue to push to avoid his conviction, while on Sunday 21, the left took to the streets en masse in all 26 states of the country to protest against the proposed amnesty for Bolsonaro, under house arrest, and the rest of the coup perpetrators.
Finally, let's look back at some of his greatest hits.
Who would have thought that a guy who years ago announced that he would destroy democracy to start a civil war or that he would carry out a coup d'état and kill whoever was needed"to do the job that the military regime did not do" would be a real coup leader? Note the irony.
At the time, these sociopathic, violent, fascist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic and coup-mongering sociopaths, among many other things, all bad, were affectionately called "populists" or simply "controversial characters" or "controversial".
Bolsonaro is finished, the bad thing is that his followers are not.
Related: Brazil gives the world a lesson in democracy | Bernardo Gutiérrez | CTXT
