A panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison Thursday after convicting him of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.
Bolsonaro, who has denied any wrongdoing, is under house arrest in Brasilia. He can appeal the ruling.
Four of the five justices reviewing the case in the panel found him guilty on five counts, in a ruling that will deepen political divisions and was expected to prompt a backlash from the U.S. government. It makes Bolsonaro the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
The U.S. government immediately criticized the ruling and warned it would respond.
President Donald Trump said he was "very unhappy" with the conviction. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, he said he’d always found Bolsonaro to be "outstanding."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on his X account that the Trump administration "will respond accordingly to this witch hunt."
The Trump administration had applied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods, which it said was in reaction to the process against Bolsonaro.
The sentence doesn’t mean he will immediately go to prison. The court panel now has up to 60 days to publish the ruling. Once it does, Bolsonaro’s attorneys have five days to file motions for clarification.
One of the justices, Cármen Lúcia, said she was convinced by the evidence the Attorney General’s Office presented against the former president.
"He is the instigator, the leader of an organization that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power," she said.
Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, said on X the conviction was a "supreme persecution" and that history would show they were on the right side.
The trial has been followed by a divided society, with people backing the process against the former president, while others still support him. Some have taken to the streets to back Bolsonaro, who contends he is being politically persecuted.
Bolsonaro’s trial got renewed attention after Trump linked a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally’s legal situation, calling it a " witch hunt."
Lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, on Thursday talked about his father on his social media platforms. But instead of mentioning his father’s conviction, he pushed for his amnesty, which he is seeking through Congress.
"It is time to do nothing less than what is correct, just," he said.
Fux, in his dissenting opinion on Wednesday, disagreed with de Moraes and the other two justices.
"No one can be punished for cogitation," Fux said. "A coup d’état does not result from isolated acts or individual demonstrations lacking coordination, but rather from the actions of organized groups, equipped with resources and strategic capacity to confront and replace the incumbent power."