Brazil’s Supreme Court has begun reviewing former president Jair Bolsonaro’s appeal against his 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup to block Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office. Two judges have so far voted to uphold the conviction, including Alexandre de Moraes, who led the original trial.
Moraes dismissed the defence’s claims of procedural flaws and affirmed that Bolsonaro deliberately orchestrated the coup attempt, which failed only because military leaders refused to back it. He said the sentence reflected Bolsonaro’s high culpability as a sitting president and the serious impact of his actions, noting that his age was already considered as a mitigating factor.
Bolsonaro, currently under house arrest since August, will not be imprisoned until all appeals are exhausted.
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