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A majority of justices on a five-member panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday found former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven associates guilty of plotting a coup, sentencing Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison. The defendants were convicted of five charges, including armed criminal conspiracy and attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law by violent means.

Bolsonaro tried to cling to office after losing his 2022 reelection bid. He sought to undermine public trust in the electoral system and developed a detailed strategy to stay in power. Prosecutors argued that his plot included plans to assassinate the election’s victor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro supporters also violently stormed government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8, 2023.

A majority of justices on a five-member panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday found former President Jair Bolsonaro and seven associates guilty of plotting a coup, sentencing Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison. The defendants were convicted of five charges, including armed criminal conspiracy and attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law by violent means.

Bolsonaro tried to cling to office after losing his 2022 reelection bid. He sought to undermine public trust in the electoral system and developed a detailed strategy to stay in power. Prosecutors argued that his plot included plans to assassinate the election’s victor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro supporters also violently stormed government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8, 2023.

The historic weight of Bolsonaro’s conviction cannot be overstated. Throughout Brazilian history, coup-plotters—successful or not—have almost never been punished. Those who failed—such as in 1831, 1842, 1932, 1935, and 1955—were usually pardoned or quickly reintegrated into politics. Those who succeeded—in 1889, 1930, 1937, and 1964—consolidated power and often governed for years without consequence.

Brazil has now accomplished something radically different: holding an ex-president accountable in court for an attempted disruption of constitutional order. When justifying his vote to convict the former president on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes—the most prominent figure in the trial and another intended target of the alleged assassination plot—said that he hopes Bolsonaro’s case creates a precedent that deters future leaders from such........

© Foreign Policy