Ex-Brazil president Bolsonaro sentenced to prison for coup plot

Brazilian Supreme Court has sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison over coup plot.

The former president was sentenced to prison on Thursday after the Supreme Court convicted him of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.

Bolsonaro, who has always denied any wrongdoing, is currently under house arrest in Brasilia.

He can appeal the ruling.

Four of the five Supreme Court justices reviewing the case in the panel found the far-right politician guilty on five counts, in a ruling that will deepen political divisions and likely prompt a backlash from the United States government.

The ruling makes Bolsonaro the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.

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United States President Donald Trump said that he was “very unhappy” with the conviction.

Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, Trump said he always found Bolsonaro to be “outstanding”.

The conviction, he added, is “very bad for Brazil”.

The sentence doesn’t mean he will immediately go to prison. The court panel has now up to 60 days to publish the ruling.

Once it does, Bolsonaro’s lawyers have five days to file motions for clarification.

One of the justices, Carmen Lucia, told AFP she was convinced by the evidence the Attorney General’s Office presented against the former president.

“He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power,” she said.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, said the conviction was a “supreme persecution” and that history would show they were on the right side.

The Star