Brazil's Supreme Court votes to put Bolsonaro on trial for alleged coup attempt

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 11:21 AM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

A sheet of justices connected Brazil's Supreme Court has accepted charges against erstwhile president Jair Bolsonaro implicit an alleged effort to enactment successful bureau aft his 2022 predetermination defeat, and they person ordered the erstwhile person to basal trial.

All 5 justices ruled connected Wednesday successful favour of accepting the charges levelled by Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet. Last month, Gonet charged Bolsonaro and 33 others of attempting a coup that included a program to poison his successor and existent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and termination a Supreme Court judge.

The erstwhile president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

"Coups kill," Justice Flávio Dino said erstwhile casting his vote. "It doesn't substance if it happens today, the pursuing period oregon a fewer years later."

If recovered blameworthy successful a proceedings expected aboriginal this year, Bolsonaro could look a lengthy situation condemnation stretching implicit 2 decades.

In his opening remarks connected Wednesday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, screened melodramatic footage of Bolsonaro's supporters storming authorities buildings successful convulsive scenes that unfolded conscionable a week aft the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva successful January 2023.

WATCH | Bolsonaro supporters tempest legislature successful 2023: 

Bolsonaro, a far-right erstwhile service skipper who served arsenic Brazil's president from 2019 to 2022, is accused of 5 crimes, including an alleged effort to violently abolish the antiauthoritarian regularisation of instrumentality and a coup d'état.

Moraes said that Bolsonaro led "a systematic effort to formed uncertainty connected the physics voting machines" utilized successful Brazil, portion of his efforts to undermine the predetermination helium lost.

The Supreme Court began reviewing charges against Bolsonaro and 7 of his closest allies connected Tuesday successful a league that Bolsonaro voluntarily attended, sitting silently successful the archetypal enactment successful an echo of U.S. President Donald Trump's proceedings past year.

Ahead of the landmark tribunal hearing, Bolsonaro called a beachfront rally successful Rio de Janeiro, hoping to prehend connected Lula's waning popularity and unit Congress to walk an amnesty measure favouring him and his jailed supporters.

The demonstration, which immoderate allies suggested could gully much than a cardinal backers, was wide considered a flop aft 2 autarkic polling firms recovered that lone betwixt 20,000 and 30,000 radical showed up.

Bolsonaro has insisted helium volition tally for president again adjacent year, contempt a ruling by Brazil's Superior Electoral Court that barred him from moving for nationalist bureau until 2030 for his efforts to discredit the country's voting system.