By Canadian Press

Majority of Brazil’s Supreme Court panel accepts coup charge against ex-President Bolsonaro

Mar 26, 2025 | 8:41 AM

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A majority of a panel of justices of Brazil’s Supreme Court has accepted charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged attempt to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat.

Three justices voted in favor of putting Bolsonaro on trial. The result will be official after all five judges cast their votes.

Last month, Brazil’s prosecutor general charged Bolsonaro and 33 others of attempting a coup that included a plan to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge.

The far-right politician has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Coup charges alone carry a penalty of up to 12 years. Combined with other crimes he is charged with, Bolsonaro could be sentenced to decades in prison if convicted.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A panel of Brazil ’s Supreme Court reunited on Wednesday for a second day of proceedings to decide whether former President Jair Bolsonaro and several close allies will stand trial on five counts including attempting to stage a coup.

Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices also are accused of involvement in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage characterized by violence and a serious threat against the state’s assets, and deterioration of listed heritage.

The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says that he’s being politically persecuted. Local newspaper O Globo reported that Bolsonaro would not be present at the court on Wednesday, unlike the previous day.

Under Brazilian law, a coup conviction alone carries a sentence of up to 12 years. When combined with the other charges, it could result in a sentence of decades behind bars.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur, was the first to cast his vote. He said he was in favor of accepting the charges leveled by Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

The prosecutor-general on Tuesday said those facing the charges sought to maintain Bolsonaro in power “at all costs,” in a multi-step scheme that accelerated after the far-right politician lost to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election.

Like in his February indictment of Bolsonaro and 33 others, Gonet said that part of the plot included a plan to kill Lula and Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who were put under surveillance by the alleged conspirators. The plan did not go ahead only because at the last minute the accused failed to get the army’s commander on board, Gonet said.

“Frustration overwhelmed the members of the criminal organization who, however, did not give up on the violent seizure of power, not even after the elected president of the republic was sworn in,” Gonet said.

That was a reference to the Jan. 8, 2023, riot, when Bolsonaro’s die-hard supporters stormed and trashed the Supreme Court, presidential palace and Congress in Brasilia a week after Lula took office.

The Supreme Court is analyzing whether to accept the charges against eight of the 34 people Gonet accused of participating in the coup plan.

Observers say that it’s likely that the charges will be accepted.

As well as Bolsonaro, the court will vote on the accusations faced by his running mate during the 2022 election and former Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto, ex-Justice Minister Anderson Torres and his aide-de-camp Mauro Cid, among others. The court will decide on the fate of the others later.

Eléonore Hughes, The Associated Press