The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been convicted of plotting a military coup. Three out of five Supreme Court justices found the 70-year-old guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
While the plot failed to enlist enough support from the military to go ahead, it culminated in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro's supporters on January 8, 2023, as found by the justices.
One justice acquitted Bolsonaro, and a final one has yet to vote, but the simple majority is enough to convict the former president, who could now face decades in jail. He will be sentenced on Friday.
While the plot failed to enlist enough support from the military to go ahead, it culminated in the storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro's supporters on January 8, 2023, as found by the justices.
One justice acquitted Bolsonaro, and a final one has yet to vote, but the simple majority is enough to convict the former president, who could now face decades in jail. He will be sentenced on Friday.
