Former Brazil president sentenced to lengthy jail term

WorldPolitics
12 Sep 2025 • 7:18 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • Former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison after being convicted of attempting a coup.
  • A majority of Brazilian Supreme Court justices found Bolsonaro guilty on five counts related to his efforts to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.
  • Prosecutors charged him with attempting to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, and attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.
  • The justices concluded that his plot, though failing to secure military support, culminated in the storming of government buildings by his supporters on 8 January 2023.
  • Bolsonaro, who denies wrongdoing and is currently under house arrest, plans to appeal the verdict; he was previously barred from public office until 2030.

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