Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years as Brazil’s Supreme Court Closes Coup Trial

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Thursday sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for leading a conspiracy to overturn the 2022 election.

The First Panel’s ruling ended a two-week trial that marked the first time in Brazilian history that a former head of state was convicted of attempting a coup.

Bolsonaro was found guilty of five crimes: criminal organization, coup d’état, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, qualified damage, and destruction of protected public property.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the case’s rapporteur, stressed that the Court’s decision had to serve as a deterrent. He said Brazil could not allow a repetition of political groups, supported by parts of the Armed Forces, turning into criminal organizations.

The other seven defendants also received heavy sentences. Former Defense and Civil House minister Walter Braga Netto was sentenced to 26 years. Former Justice minister Anderson Torres and ex-Navy commander Almir Garnier each received 24 years.

Former security chief Augusto Heleno was sentenced to 21 years, and ex-Defense minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira to 19 years. Former intelligence director Alexandre Ramagem, now a sitting congressman, received 16 years and lost his parliamentary mandate.

Bolsonaro’s former aide Mauro Cid, who signed a plea bargain, was given two years in an open regime. All defendants also face eight years of ineligibility after serving their sentences, under Brazil’s Clean Record Law.

Supreme Court Bars Forgiveness for Coup Attempts

The Court rejected any possibility of amnesty, pardon, or presidential indulto for crimes against democracy. Moraes argued that such remedies cannot apply to coup attempts.

He confirmed benefits promised under Cid’s plea deal, including the return of seized assets and police protection, but denied full judicial pardon.

The ruling capped days of intense sessions. Moraes’s opening vote on September 9 laid out 13 acts he said proved Bolsonaro’s leadership of a criminal plan.

Justice Flávio Dino supported conviction, emphasizing that no democracy can allow amnesty for its own destruction. Justice Luiz Fux dissented, arguing the trial should be annulled, but was outvoted.

On September 11, Justices Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin sided with Moraes, cementing a 4–1 majority for conviction. Reactions split along political lines.

The opposition bloc in the Chamber of Deputies, led by Luciano Zucco of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, issued a note calling the ruling “one of the saddest pages in Brazilian justice.”

It argued that the defendants had been “condemned in advance” and vowed to push for a general amnesty in Congress. Government allies and Court officials rejected the idea.

Moraes and Dino both stated during the trial that crimes against democracy cannot be forgiven. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva repeated that accountability is essential.

Brazilian media reflected the divide. Center-left outlets highlighted the historic nature of the conviction and the unprecedented length of Bolsonaro’s sentence.

Right-leaning outlets framed the verdict as judicial overreach and gave prominence to claims that the trial was politically motivated.

The verdict effectively ends Bolsonaro’s political career. Already banned from running for office until 2030 by an electoral court ruling, he now faces decades in prison.