Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison after finding him guilty on several charges tied to an attempt to overturn the 2022 election result.
The verdict was handed down by a panel of five justices.
Among the convictions are charges of organizing a criminal enterprise, plotting a coup, trying to violently erase democratic rule, and committing damage to public property and protected heritage during riots by his supporters on January 8, 2023.
He has been under house arrest since early August, after being judged a flight risk.
The court also extended an existing ban on Bolsonaro running for public office—previously in effect until 2030—so that he now remains ineligible until 2033.
Bolsonaro — who has denied all wrongdoing — accused the process of being politically motivated, a claim supported by some U.S. figures.
U.S. President Donald Trump called the ruling “very surprising” and likened it to legal challenges he has faced in the U.S., referring to them as similarly unfair.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized the Supreme Court decision as a “witch hunt” and said that the U.S. would “respond accordingly.”
The Brazilian government strongly rejected such comments. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry stated that Rubio’s remarks “attack Brazilian authority and ignore the facts and the compelling evidence on record,” adding that Brazil’s democracy will not be intimidated.
This is an unprecedented conviction: Bolsonaro is the first former president of Brazil to be found guilty of trying to subvert democracy after losing an election.
Several of his former ministers and military officers were also convicted, receiving sentences ranging from short-terms to multiyear prison sentences.