Harsh sentence: ex-president of Brazil sentenced to 27 years
Brazil's Supreme Court has found former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro guilty of an attempted coup in 2023 by a majority vote. In addition to imprisonment, the 70-year-old politician will not be allowed to hold elected office until 2060. For more information about the course of the case and the prosecution, as well as the reaction to the verdict, see the Izvestia article.
Jair Bolsonaro: accusation and verdict
Jair Bolsonaro served as President of Brazil from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2022. He was replaced by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had previously been head of state in 2003-2011. On the evening of September 11, it became known that the Federal Supreme Court of the country found Bolsonaro guilty of organizing a conspiracy to prevent Luis Inacio Lula da Silva from coming to power. This happened after the third member of the court out of five upheld the guilty verdict. Later it became known that the fourth judge made a similar decision.
"The prosecutor's office has convincingly proved that a group [of conspirators] led by Jair Messias Bolsonaro, consisting of key members of his government, the armed forces and intelligence agencies, developed and implemented a plan to attack democratic institutions in order to undermine the legitimate transfer of power following the 2022 elections," said court member Carmen Lucia.
Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, was sentenced to 27 years and three months. Of these, 24 years and nine months are imprisonment, and the remaining term is detention. In addition, the court ordered that 70-year-old Bolsonaro will not be able to hold elected office until 2060.
Bolsonaro became the first ex-leader of the country to be convicted of such a crime. His closest accomplices received up to 26 years in prison.
The defense of the former head of state has already announced its intention to appeal, including at the international level.
Recall that on December 15, 2022, Bolsonaro and his supporters, which included both politicians and the military, planned to sabotage the process of transferring power to Lula da Silva. Among the proposals put forward was the use of explosives, weapons, or poison to assassinate the then-elected President, Vice President, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. However, no coup attempt was made before January 1.
On January 8, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took to the streets and even stormed the buildings of the Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential Palace. About 1,400 people were detained.
Bolsonaro himself left the country a few days before Lula da Silva's inauguration with the statement "I'm flying, I'll be back soon." It was noted that he had left for the United States. Florida (USA). He was still abroad during the riots. It was also reported that his entourage feared Bolsonaro's arrest due to the fact that an investigation had been launched in Brazil into his involvement in demonstrations and acts of vandalism.
Reaction to the conviction of Jair Bolsonaro
Even before the verdict was announced, the head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, said that the United States would react accordingly if Bolsonaro was found guilty of a coup.
Da Silva replied that he was not worried about possible sanctions from the United States.
"The president of one country cannot interfere in the decisions of another sovereign state. If he decides to take any action, it will only be his problem," the Brazilian leader added.
Other Latin American countries also reacted to the incident.
The Presidents of Chile and Colombia, Gabriel Boric and Gustavo Petro, respectively, supported the decision.
"My respect is for the Brazilian democracy, which withstood the coup attempt and is now trying and sentencing the perpetrators. They tried to destroy her, but in the end she becomes even stronger," Borich wrote on the social network X.
Petro agrees with his colleague and added: "All putschists must be condemned. These are the rules of democracy," he wrote on Twitter.
Jair Bolsonaro: biography, political views
Jair Bolsonaro was born in 1955 and served in the army, rising to the rank of captain. After leaving the armed forces, he began his political career and was elected to the Rio de Janeiro City Council in 1988. He participated in the presidential elections in 2018, but an attempt was made on his life during one of his speeches. He was shot in the stomach, which is why he continued to oversee the election program from the hospital ward. He participated in the elections again in 2022, but lost.
Bolsonaro is known for his far-right, nationalist and conservative views: support for the military regime, the death penalty, limited use of torture, harsh criticism of the left and democracy, as well as a number of scandalous statements. He himself named Alberto Fujimori (President of Peru in 1990-2000) and US President Donald Trump as his political reference points. He advocated liberal economic reforms, opposed social quotas and land reform, and during the COVID-19 pandemic denied the seriousness of the virus and rejected quarantine.
As president, he simplified access to firearms and abolished the import tax on them.
Luis Inacio Lula da Silva: imprisonment and acquittal
The current president of the country also has criminal prosecution in his biography. He was accused of corruption related to the Petrobras oil and gas company. Law enforcement officers suspected that the money received dishonestly was used to finance political parties. Lula da Silva was also blamed. The trial began in 2016, and in 2017 he was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison. Later, the term was increased to 12 years, and then to 17 years and one month.
In 2021, all charges against Lula da Silva were annulled. This became possible after the detection of procedural violations. The former judge had no authority to review the case of the ex-president.
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