A prosecutor asked Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday to find ex-president Jair Bolsonaro guilty of plotting a coup, in closing arguments after a trial that saw US President Donald Trump try to intervene on behalf of his right-wing ally.
Bolsonaro is accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election won by his left-wing opponent, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The prosecution told the court that former army officer Bolsonaro and seven others were guilty of participating in “armed criminal association” and had sought to “violently overthrow the democratic order.”
The case now goes to Justice Alexandre de Moraes. If found guilty, Bolsonaro and his co-defendants could face up to 40 years in prison.
Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019-2023 before Lula replaced him, says he is the victim of a political persecution.
Prosecutors say Bolsonaro tried to overturn his 2022 loss in a plot that only failed because the military did not side with him.
Violent supporters then rioted, rampaging through government buildings in the capital Brasilia in scenes that echoed the assault on the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters after the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
The trial has attracted attention from Trump, who returned to power in the 2024 election and continues to claim — despite this being rejected repeatedly by the courts — that he won in 2020.
Trump has repeatedly called on social media for Bolsonaro’s trial to be stopped, accusing the authorities in Brazil of mounting a “witch hunt” and a “disgrace.”
On July 9, he took his campaign to extraordinary new levels by announcing plans to tariff Brazilian imports to the United States at 50 percent.
Unlike the tariffs Trump is slapping on countries around much of the world, including top US allies, the measures against Brazil — which are set to take effect August 1 — were announced in openly political terms.
Trump cited “Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections” among other issues, warning of further escalation if the country retaliated — something Lula indicated would happen.
On Friday, Trump reiterated his claim that Bolsonaro was being unfairly treated.
“They’re treating President Bolsonaro very unfairly,” Trump told reporters, calling him “a good man.”
“I know the honest ones, and I know the crooked ones,” he added.
Lula has hit back at Trump’s “interference,” insisting that “no one is above the law.”
