Bolsonaro guilty of coup charges, court majority decides in landmark trial

12/9/2025 6:12

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was convicted by a Supreme Court majority on Thursday of being part of a criminal organization, a powerful blow to the far-right leader in his trial over an alleged coup plot.



The presumptive ruling by a majority of a panel of five justices in Brazil's Supreme Court makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country's history to be convicted for attacking democracy.



Three judges so far have voted to convict, one acquitted, and one remains to vote.



The conviction of Bolsonaro, a former Army captain who never hid his admiration for the military dictatorship that killed hundreds of Brazilians between 1964 and 1985, echoes legal condemnations this year for far-right leaders elsewhere, including France's Marine Le Pen and the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte.