Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, is preparing for a high-stakes trial this September. Chambers on five grave charges the decisions will be severed between the 2nd & 12th. As of August 4, Bolsonaro is in house arrest. This follows the recent accusation that he orchestrated a coup d’etat after he lost the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. For that, he rightfully now faces serious charges for attempting to violently overthrow Brazil’s democratic order. Besides these federal charges, he illegally entered an armed criminal enterprise and has two counts of sabotaging state property.
Prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro engineered a coup to stay in power. They accuse it of containing schemes to assassinate Lula and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. This trial has rapidly polarized Brazilian society. It’s drawn the interest of international leaders, such as ex-U.S. President Donald Trump. In response, Trump called the legal action being pursued against Bolsonaro a “witch hunt.” He suspects these moves are politically motivated power plays meant to destroy his friend. He has even described Bolsonaro as an “honest man,” insisting that what is happening amounts to a kind of “political execution.”
The recent case has led to comparisons with Brazil’s own military coup in 1964, an era that Bolsonaro has long glorified. The consequences for a coup conviction are dire—including possible prison terms extending up to 12 years. A five-justice panel will preside over the bench trial. This panel features Justice de Moraes, who has herself frequently been the target of Bolsonaro’s supporters’ attacks.
Bolsonaro’s defense team strongly rebutted all the charges. They claimed that no coup attempt in fact took place and pointed to the fact that Bolsonaro enabled a smooth, peaceful transition of the presidency following the election. That’s because the former president is making his appointments of two justices a central aspect of his defense strategy. These judicial decisions made during his administration have raised a considerable outcry.
As the trial draws near, the political atmosphere in Brazil is still thick with tension. The charges against Bolsonaro strike at the heart of our democracy. They reveal the ugly rifts within Brazilian society. Given the world’s attention on this trial, the verdict is likely to have important repercussions on the future of Brazil’s political future in the years to come.
