With his coupplan, Bolsonaro had the democracy shave along the edge of the abyss, Hoogge dishes judge

The Brazilian former president Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty by the Supreme Court on Thursday, among other things, the planning of a coup. At least three of the five high judges are convinced that after his loss of the presidential elections in the autumn of 2022, the ultra -right politician with high government officials and top soldiers prepared a detailed plan to stay in power with violence. It is not yet clear which punishment Bolsonaro (70) is imposed, but he may have to go into jail for years.

During the historical trial, the highest court bent over the file that the federal police compiled against Bolsonaro, after thousands of his supporters on January 8, 2023, a week after his departure of power, stormed the most important government buildings in the country in Brasília and vandalism. According to the indictment, those riots in a broader coup plan that the outgoing president prepared with other government leaders and senior soldiers during the transition period, at the end of 2022. Despite his polling defeat, Bolsonaro wanted to remain in power, including by the elected President Lula, to kill his vice -president and a top magicist.

The lawsuit was seen in advance as a fire test for young democracy. Brazil only said goodbye to his last military dictatorship and Bolsonaro in 1985 and many of his co -suspects stem from the armed forces. Although they blew their coup attempt after resistance from some armed forces, the criminal file made clear how undemocratically another part of the Brazilian army top thinks.

Taller

At least three of the five high judges had to agree to the conviction. On Tuesday, two of them already did that. “An attempt was made to overthrow the rule of law and we saw the last external exit on January 8, 2023,” said Alexandre de Moraes, who was also on the death list. The fact that Bolsonaro himself was in the US on the day of the storming did not detract from the danger that democracy was running that day, according to the judge. “He had given the impetus for a long time.”

The next judge who was allowed to read his verdict took the murder plans that lay down also very seriously. These were not just a few loose thoughts, said Flávio Dino: “They were detailed plans and Bolsonaro was aware of everything.”

On Wednesday, colleague Luiz Fux voted to delete the whole charge. According to him, the Court is not authorized to judge Bolsonaro because he is no longer a president and lower judges should have dealt with the case. The fourth judge who gave her opinion on Thursday, Carmen Lucia, did convict Bolsonaro, which makes it no more acquittal.

Fux ‘minority judgment Strength Bolsonaro and his supporters in their aversion to the entire court. The defense of the former president can also use it to try to appeal: in that case the eleven members of the Supreme Court members will have to look into full composition about the case.

Experts expect a prison sentence of about seventeen years for Bolsonaro

On Friday, the five judges will first determine in mutual debate which punishment Bolsonaro will receive. Experts think that a prison sentence of about seventeen years is imposed. The maximum punishment of 43 years in prison would not be realistic due to the age of Bolsonaro – the health of the seventies has not been optimal since a knife attack in 2018.

It must also be apparent whether he will participate in arrest in the case of a prison sentence by voluntarily surrendering, or whether he should be arrested. By order of the Court, he is already under house arrest and has been wearing an ankle band since July.

Already under house arrest

Since the kick-off of the final phase of the trial, supporters and opponents of the former president have been staying at the Bolsonaro house in Brasília. On 2 September, the day that the final phase of the historical lawsuit starts, black cars from the military police patrol. Armed men with black berets get out and position themselves with levers next to the entrance. In a waiting booth there is a door that lets residents of the luxurious apartment complex Solar the Brasilia inside and out.

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“Look at how the agents are running. As if Bolsonaro is a criminal who flees. There were even police officers in his house, it’s great for words,” says Denise Quadros that first Tuesday of September. She is one of the dozens of faithful Bolsonaro supporters who are committed to the former president’s house every proceedings day.

For many of his supporters, the content of the process never mattered much. The magistrates see them as ‘dictators’, who would make their hero a ‘political prisoner’ anyway. To illustrate this, Bolsonaro’s lawyers compared their client during the first week with Albert Dreyfus, the French-Jewish officer who fell victim to an anti-Semitic show process at the end of the nineteenth century.

More than a week later, Quadros is also furious about the ruling. “I am furious, sad, desperate. It is so unjust. But we remain behind him. We will pray,” she says.

Amnesty law in the making

Quadros and many others Bolsonaristas Have now established their hope on Donald Trump as a ‘savior’ of Brazil. The American president is fully involved in the trial in Brazil, which he calls a political “witch hunt.” Trump already punished the country with import duties of 50 percent and imposed the High Judge the Moraes personal sanctions.

The celebration of Independence Day ended on Sunday on a large manifestation of supporters and opponents of Bolsonaro. On the Avenida Paulista, the central traffic artery of São Paulo, Bolsonaristas rolled out a life -size American flag while the Brazilian national anthem ran out. President Lula said in a speech prior to the national holiday, on the other hand, that “Brazil will never be anyone’s colony.”

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Quadros does not think that it is precisely that Bolsonaristas, who likes to call themselves patriots, are not calling for foreign intervention. “From me, Trump can really go that far as needed to save our country. He is the most powerful man in the world, so that is why we are now focusing on the US.”

The chance that Trump will increase the pressure is high. On Tuesday evening, the White House suggested that even military intervention is an option when spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the US uses their “economic and military power to protect freedom of expression.” The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately criticized this statement.

Also in your own country works on the right for Bolsonaro. In Parliament, his Liberal Party (PL) wants to submit an amnesty law with right -wing allies to let Bolsonaro and the stormers of 8 January go free. Perhaps they will succeed in having the parliamentary chairman put on the role, then it must be clear whether there are enough votes for Amnesty.

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