Brazil Court Convicts Bolsonaro for Attacking Democracy
Brazil’s Supreme Court Convicts Bolsonaro in Landmark Democracy Case
BRASÍLIA — Brazil’s Supreme Court has convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges of undermining democracy, making him the first ex-leader in the country’s history to face such a ruling.
A panel of five justices delivered the verdict on Thursday, with four voting to convict and one dissenting. The 70-year-old former president, currently under house arrest, was found guilty of joining an armed criminal group, attempting to abolish democracy by force, organizing a coup, and damaging government property and cultural heritage.
Justice Cármen Lúcia said Bolsonaro had acted with the clear aim of eroding democratic institutions. “This criminal case is almost a meeting between Brazil and its past, its present, and its future,” she noted, pointing to the country’s history of coups and authoritarian rule.
The ruling drew sharp criticism from the Trump administration in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump, a close ally of Bolsonaro, denounced the trial as a “witch hunt” and responded with tariffs, sanctions on the presiding judge, and visa revocations for most of Brazil’s top justices. On Thursday, Trump again called the verdict “a terrible thing” and said it was “very bad for Brazil.”
Bolsonaro’s son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, told Reuters that Trump could impose further sanctions in retaliation. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also criticized the ruling, saying the United States “will respond accordingly.” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry hit back, calling Rubio’s statement a threat and warning that its democracy would not be intimidated.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 election, said he was not worried about fresh sanctions. “Brazil will not be cowed,” he told a local TV channel hours before the ruling.
The verdict was not unanimous. Justice Luiz Fux voted to acquit Bolsonaro, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction. His dissent could pave the way for appeals that might stretch the case into the 2026 presidential election, despite Bolsonaro already being barred from office until 2030.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers condemned the decision as “absurdly excessive” and vowed to appeal.
From Army Captain to President
Bolsonaro’s conviction marks the lowest point in a career that began in the 1980s after he served as an army paratrooper. Rising from the Rio de Janeiro city council to Congress, he built his reputation defending Brazil’s military dictatorship, once saying the country needed a civil war to “do the job the regime didn’t do: killing 30,000.”
For years, he was seen as a fringe figure. But amid widespread corruption scandals in the 2010s, Bolsonaro’s populist message of anti-corruption and conservative values gained traction. He won the presidency in 2018, backed by a wave of far-right lawmakers who reshaped Congress.
His term was marked by vaccine skepticism during the pandemic, support for illegal mining in the Amazon, and rising deforestation. Ahead of his 2022 defeat to Lula, Bolsonaro repeatedly cast doubt on Brazil’s voting system, fueling fears he would not accept the results.
In 2023, the electoral court barred him from office until 2030. His latest conviction further cements his political downfall.
Gleisi Hoffmann, Lula’s Institutional Relations Minister, said the verdict sent a clear message: “No one dares again to attack the rule of law or the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.”
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