Ex-president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years' jail for plotting coup

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in jail.

He was found guilty of plotting a military coup to keep him in power after his 2022 election loss to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Judges: 4 vs 1 ruling

A panel of five Supreme Court justices sentenced the former leader hours after they convicted him, following his guilty verdict of leading a conspiracy.

Only one of the judges voted to acquit him, while the rest found him guilty.

Bolsonaro's lawyers said they would appeal and called the sentence "absurdly excessive".

The former leader has been barred from running for public office until 2033.

"Witch hunt"

Prior to the trial, Bolsonaro was deemed a flight risk and put under house arrest.

He did not show up in person for the final phase of his trial.

Bolsonaro had previously called the trial a "witch hunt" meant to stop him from running for office in 2026.

This was despite him having been barred from public office on separate charges.

Trump's response

United States president Donald Trump subsequently echoed this perspective and framed the 50 per cent tariffs imposed on Brazilian goods as retaliation for Bolsonaro's prosecution.

Trump, who was chummy with Bolsonaro, said he found the jail term "very surprising" and compared it to his own experience: "That's very much like they tried to do with me. But they didn't get away with it at all."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Brazil's Supreme Court had "unjustly ruled" against Bolsonaro and threatened to "respond accordingly to this witch hunt".

Brazil's foreign ministry posted on X in a swift response, saying that "threats like the one" made by Rubio "attacks" a Brazilian authority and "ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record".

The ministry added that Rubio's remarks will not intimidate "our democracy".

Top photo via Jair Messias Bolsonaro Facebook