Brazil Supreme Court Convicts Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro In Coup Case

Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday reached the majority of three votes needed to convict firebrand ex-president Jair Bolsonaro of plotting a coup, making a lengthy prison sentence a near certainty.

Judge Carmen Lucia was the third of five judges to find the 70-year-old far-right leader guilty of plotting to claw back power after his defeat in October 2022 elections to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

However, Bolsonaro's conviction will only become final when the fifth and last judge, Lula's former lawyer Cristiano Zanin, makes his decision.

Brazil's president from 2019-2022 could face a prison sentence of more than 40 years if found guilty on all five charges, including leading a "criminal organization" that conspired to overthrow current leader Lula.

Lucia voted to convict him on the criminal organization charge, but had not yet voted on the four other charges.

Bolsonaro claims he is the victim of political persecution.

His ally US President Donald Trump has branded the trial a "witch hunt" and slapped 50 percent tariffs on an array of Brazilian imports as retaliation.

- 'Law must apply equally' -

The vote by the Supreme Court's only female judge came on the forth day of a cliffhanger end to one of the biggest, most divisive trials in Brazil's recent history.

"The law must apply equally to all," Lucia told the court on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of the case for Brazil's young democracy.

The only judge so far to return a not-guilty vote, Luiz Fux, on Wednesday echoed Bolsonaro's and Trump's assessment that the trial was "political."

Bolsonaro has not attended the public verdict hearings, which have gripped a nation following on TV and social media.

The former leader has instead been following the proceedings from his residence in Brasilia, where he has been under house arrest since last month.

Apart from heading a "criminal organization," Bolsonaro is accused of knowing of a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes, who is now presiding over the coup trial.

Bolsonaro is further accused of inciting the violent 2023 storming of the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress in Brasilia by hundreds of his supporters, a week after Lula was inaugurated as his successor.

The rioters called in vain for the military to oust Lula.

- 'Historic reparation' -

The trial has driven a deep wedge through Brazilian society, between those primarily on the left who see it as a vital test of the country's democracy, from those mainly on the right who view it as a political show trial.

"This trial is not fair," was the verdict of Germano Cavalcante, a 60-year-old civil engineer.

Ana Karla Oliveira, a 21-year-old systems analyst, said however she was "absolutely delighted" to see Bolsonaro on the stand.

"I will celebrate this conviction," she said.

Fearing his conviction, Bolsonaro's allies have been pushing Congress to pass an amnesty law to save him from prison.

Moraes was the first judge to cast his vote on Monday.

He charged that Latin America's biggest economy, which emerged from two decades of brutal military rule in 1985, "nearly returned to dictatorship" due to Bolsonaro's actions.

The case has led to an unprecedented crisis in relations between the United States and longtime ally Brazil.

Besides the tariffs punishment, Washington has also sanctioned Moraes and other Supreme Court judges.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)