"And then, on Thursday, Brazil's supreme court sentenced the former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for leading a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2022 elections and annihilate democracy through a coup. The sprawling plot was both modern and crudely old school extending from an online disinformation campaign to undermine faith in the voting system, to aborted plans to assassinate the newly elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, and the supreme court justice investigating Bolsonaro. It culminated in the riots in Brasilia in January 2023."
"Four of the five judges on the panel found Bolsonaro guilty. Seven close allies from the military and security establishment were convicted alongside him for the same crimes including his former defence and justice ministers, former spy chief, generals and the former navy commander. According to the prosecution, the plans for a putsch failed because the army and air force chiefs refused to take part. The conviction is a relief not only to defenders of democracy many of whom celebrated in the streets in the hours after the verdict but also groups targeted under Bolsonaro's rule, including human rights activists, Indigenous peoples and the LGBTQ+ community. It also marks a hugely important moment for Brazil in challenging historical norms of impunity."
Brazil's supreme court sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for leading a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2022 elections and annihilate democracy through a coup. The conspiracy combined online disinformation to undermine confidence in the voting system, aborted assassination plans against the newly elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and a supreme court justice, and culminated in the January 2023 riots in Brasilia. Four of five judges found Bolsonaro guilty, and seven close allies from the military and security establishment were convicted. Prosecutors said the putsch failed because army and air force chiefs refused to participate, and the convictions challenge historical norms of impunity while offering relief to targeted groups.
#bolsonaro #2022-election-overturn-plot #coup-attempt #supreme-court-conviction #democratic-accountability
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