Brazil’s Supreme Court to decide on presiding over Bolsonaro trial
Brazil’s highest court will today decide whether it will preside over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Last month, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet Branco filed charges against the former President for attempting to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro is accused of coup d’état, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of the law, and armed criminal organization. The former president has denied the allegations and claims to be politically persecuted.
If five judges vote in favor, Bolsonaro will be tried before the Supreme Court. If convicted, the former president faces an estimated 12 to 40 years in prison. Alternatively, the judges could dismiss the indictment altogether.
With a dismissal being unlikely, the Supreme Court will likely preside over the trial and reach a verdict by the end of the year. Any decision reached by the Supreme Court will hold severe ramifications for the 2026 presidential election. If acquitted, Bolsonaro intends to stage a political comeback and overturn his ban from running in the 2026 election. On the other hand, a conviction would likely spell the end of Bolsonaro’s political career and exacerbate political polarization in Brazil. His supporters continue to demand for amnesty, as thousands assembled in Rio de Janeiro in support of the former president last week. As President Da Silva and Bolsonaro’s opposition has become increasingly unpopular with the electorate, the former President’s future in Brazil’s political arena hangs in the balance of the Supreme Court.
