The First Chamber of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) formed a majority on Friday to reject an appeal by the defense and uphold the former President Jair Bolsonaro's 27-year and three-month prison sentence for attempting a coup d'état.
While voting to reject Bolsonaro's appeal, Judge Alexandre de Moraes stated that the former president's leading role in the criminal group was duly proven. "The criminal authorship of the appellant (Bolsonaro) was also demonstrated, having exercised the leadership of the armed criminal organization, and his supporters invaded the headquarters of democratic institutions, destroying, disabling, and damaging the Brazilian State's assets, by spreading the false narrative of electoral fraud in the year 2022," the magistrate said.
The judges are hearing clarification requests in a virtual plenary session, seeking explanations for omissions, contradictions, and ambiguities in the votes. Votes can be cast electronically in the system until November 14.
With four votes in favor and one against, the First Chamber of the STF had convicted Bolsonaro in September last year after finding him guilty of leading a criminal organization that acted to keep the former president in power even after his defeat in the October 2022 elections. The group used the structure of public bodies against political opponents, in addition to having planned even the assassination of authorities and attacked the electronic voting system.
Moraes, Dino, and Zanin also voted to reject the appeals of the other convicts to maintain the sentences in all cases.
In addition to Bolsonaro, appeals were also denied to Walter Braga Netto, former Chief of Staff Minister; Almir Garnier, former Commander of the Navy; Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice; Augusto Heleno, former Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet; Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former Minister of Defense; and Alexandre Ramagem, former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin).
Mauro Cid, former aide-de-camp to Bolsonaro, signed a plea bargain agreement during the investigations and did not appeal the sentence he is serving in an open regime.
