Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to face trial following allegations of his involvement in an attempted coup against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This decision comes after a unanimous ruling from Brazil’s Supreme Court, which has paved the way for legal proceedings to commence.
Supreme Court’s decision and allegations
The five-member panel of the Supreme Court voted in favor of moving forward with the trial, which could begin later this year. If convicted, the 70-year-old Bolsonaro could face significant prison time. After the ruling, Bolsonaro expressed his thoughts at a press conference, stating that the charges are “grave and baseless.” He has consistently denied any intention to obstruct Lula’s inauguration.
“It seems they have something personal against me,” he added in a post on X, referring to the judges.
Bolsonaro has characterized the trial as an act of “political persecution,” suggesting that it is an effort to hinder his potential campaign for the presidency in 2026. The Supreme Court’s judges assessed whether sufficient evidence existed to proceed with a trial against Bolsonaro and several others implicated in the alleged coup.
Details of the coup attempt
The judge presiding over the panel, Alexandre de Moraes, was the first to cast his vote. He proposed that Bolsonaro, alongside seven other former officials labeled as “co-conspirators” by the attorney-general, be tried for their roles in the events leading to the violent storming of government buildings by Bolsonaro’s supporters on January 8, 2023—just a week after Lula took office.
The individuals identified as co-conspirators include:
- Alexandre Ramagem, former head of Brazil’s intelligence agency
- Admiral Almir Garnier Santos, former navy commander
- Anderson Torres, former security minister
- General Augusto Heleno, former minister for institutional security
- Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former assistant
- General Walter Braga Netto, former defense minister
- General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former defense minister
Bolsonaro, a former army captain and supporter of Donald Trump, served as Brazil’s president from January 2019 until December 2022. He narrowly lost the presidential election to Lula in October 2022 and has not publicly acknowledged this defeat. His supporters had camped outside army bases, urging the military to intervene and prevent Lula’s inauguration.
On January 8, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters breached government buildings in Brasília, leading to widespread destruction and the arrest of approximately 1,500 individuals. At the time, Bolsonaro was in the United States and has denied any connection to the rioters.
A federal police investigation into the riots has revealed evidence of a “criminal organization” that allegedly acted in a coordinated effort to maintain Bolsonaro’s presidency. An extensive 884-page report, unsealed in November 2024, claimed that “then-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organization aiming to launch a coup d’etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law.”
Brazil’s Attorney-General, Paulo Gonet, has gone further, asserting that Bolsonaro not only was aware of the plot but took a leading role in it, which reportedly included plans to poison Lula and assassinate Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Despite being barred from running for public office until 2030 due to false allegations regarding Brazil’s voting system, Bolsonaro has indicated his desire to challenge this restriction to seek a second term in 2026. However, the Supreme Court’s latest ruling presents a formidable obstacle to his political ambitions.