Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Brazil’s Supreme Court Opens Final Trial of Bolsonaro Over Alleged Coup Plot

The case marks Brazil’s first prosecution of a political or military leader for coup-related crimes.

Overview

  • Proceedings began before a five-judge panel with five sessions scheduled and a verdict expected by September 12.
  • Prosecutors accuse Jair Bolsonaro of leading a scheme to block the 2022 transfer of power, exposing him to a potential sentence of more than 40 years.
  • Seven close allies stand trial alongside him as the alleged leadership core, including former ministers Anderson Torres and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira and ex–security chief Augusto Heleno.
  • Justice Alexandre de Moraes framed the case as a response to an attempted rupture of democracy aimed at installing a dictatorship, stressing that pacification cannot mean impunity.
  • Bolsonaro remains under house arrest, and judicial sources say that if convicted he could be sent to the Papuda maximum-security prison in Brasília.