Wednesday 03 / September / 2025
Brasília: Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday began verdict deliberations in the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The right-wing populist is accused of a plot to retain power after the 2022 election, in which he was defeated by current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Deliberations are scheduled to continue through to September 12.
On January 8, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed several government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, just days after Lula's inauguration.
In July, Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet said that Bolsonaro and seven others had taken part in an "armed criminal association" that sought to "violently overthrow the democratic order."
The proceedings mark the first trial of a former Brazilian president on coup charges.
If convicted, Bolsonaro could face a prison sentence of over 40 years.
US President Donald Trump has campaigned in favour of Bolsonaro, denouncing the case against him as a "witch hunt" and imposing a 50% tariff on various Brazilian goods.
Supporters of the former president see the charges against him as politicized and have welcomed Trump's support.
Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest, with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes declaring him a "flight risk" late last month.
De Moraes said that the alleged coup plot constituted an attempt to "establish a dictatorship."
"The country and its Supreme Court can only regret that a coup has once again been attempted in Brazilian republican history," he said.
He said that the coup plot was an attack on Brazil's democracy, but that its institutions had shown "strength and resilience."
Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship from 1965 to 1985. Bolsonaro is a former army officer who has praised the period of military rule.
De Moraes said the court will also not bow to "internal or external threats and coercion" and will stand "absolutely inflexible in defending national sovereignty." De Moraes has been sanctioned by the Trump administration as he presides over the case against Bolsonaro.
