Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a military coup and seeking to destroy the country’s democracy. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that the case had reached its final judgment and that no further appeals were possible.
Bolsonaro will begin serving his sentence in a federal police jail cell in the capital, Brasilia. The Court ruled that Bolsonaro, who was elected president in 2018, is guilty of seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing the 2022 election.
Bolsonaro’s crimes, as per the sentence, include coup d’etat and violently attempting to abolish Brazil’s democracy. The court also found co-conspirators, including Gen Augusto Heleno, former minister for institutional security, and Gen Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, former defence minister, guilty.
