The majority of a Brazilian Supreme Court panel has voted to convict former President Jair Bolsonaro of planning to overturn the country’s 2022 election, in a plot prosecutors say contemplated assassinating the president-elect in a bid to cling to power.
The decision in the landmark case became apparent on Thursday when the third judge of the five-member panel determined that Bolsonaro was guilty of all five counts he faced.
Bolsonaro has been charged with plotting a coup d’état, taking part in an armed criminal organization, attempting to abolish Brazil’s democratic order by force, committing violent acts against state institutions and damaging protected public property during the storming of government buildings by his supporters on January 8, 2023.
Part of the coup plot, prosecutors alleged, involved a plan to potentially use explosives, weapons of war or poison to assassinate leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro’s trial.
Bolsonaro and other defendants in the trial have denied wrongdoing.
The evidence against Bolsonaro largely centered on how he tried to stay in power after losing the presidential election in 2022 to Lula da Silva. Federal police said Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plan to overturn the election results, pressure the military to intervene, and even create a parallel “crisis management office” to run the government.
Prosecutors had alleged that the coup plot began in 2021, with efforts to undermine public trust in the electoral system. After Bolsonaro’s defeat in the 2022 election, prosecutors said defendants attempted to overturn the results by encouraging Bolsonaro supporters to mobilize in Brasília, where they stormed and vandalized the three seats of government on January 8, 2023.
Moraes, who was the first justice to cast a guilty vote on Tuesday, said the defendants “committed all the criminal offenses imputed by the Attorney General’s Office.”
Justices Flávio Dino and Cármen Lúcia also voted to convict, sealing Bolsonaro’s fate with a simple majority of three judges. One more Supreme Court justice still needs to vote this week before the decision can be formally concluded.
A polarized country
The guilty verdict means Bolsonaro, who is 70, could face decades in prison. The Supreme Court panel is expected to discuss sentencing after all the justices have voted.
Defense lawyers could still file appeals, but once those challenges are exhausted, the ruling becomes final and any prison terms can be enforced.
The trial, which comes ahead of the 2026 general election, has polarized Brazil. Over the weekend, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters filled the streets on the country’s Independence Day to protest the legal proceedings.
Bolsonaro has long insisted that the trial amounted to a political witch hunt.
That sentiment has been echoed by one of his biggest political allies, US President Donald Trump.
In July, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil after threatening to do so if the country did not end the trial against the former president. His administration has also sanctioned Moraes for what it considers “serious human rights violations,” and announced visa restrictions against him and other court officials over Bolsonaro’s trial.
A session during the final phase of the trial of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, on charges of plotting a coup to overturn the 2022 election, in Brasilia, Brazil, September 10, 2025. – Adriano Machado/Reuters
Bolsonaro’s supporters and some on Brazil’s right have welcomed Trump’s interest in the case. But the current administration in Brasília, and many others in the Latin American nation, see it as the US meddling in its affairs.
Justice Luiz Fux on Wednesday voted to acquit the former president of all charges. He argued that the events do not constitute a coup as Lula da Silva was never overthrown. He also said the court lacks jurisdiction to review the case, which he said should be annulled.
Bolsonaro joins a growing list of Latin American leaders to be convicted of a crime in recent years.
Last month, former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest after being found guilty of procedural fraud and witness bribery – a verdict he is appealing.
In 2022, Argentina’s ex-leader Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted of corruption related to public works contracts.
And in 2017, Brazil’s current President Lula da Silva was found guilty of corruption and money laundering, serving more than a year in prison before his conviction was later annulled.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Francisca Marques contributed to this report.
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