Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his allies, including four senior members of the military, have gone on trial for allegedly attempting to stage a coup — the first time in Brazilian history such powerful figures have faced justice for seeking to topple the country’s democracy.
Bolsonaro stands accused of masterminding a failed power grab after losing the 2022 election to the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro and his seven alleged co-conspirators face decades in jail if found guilty of being the driving force behind the unsuccessful plot.
On Tuesday morning, the supreme court began what is expected to be a two-week judgment of the group. Over the course of eight televised hearings held between 2 and 12 September, five supreme court judges will decide their fate.
The judge presiding over the trial, Alexandre de Moraes, kicked off the hearing describing how an anti-democratic plot to impose “a veritable dictatorship” had been foiled thanks to the strength of Brazilian society and institutions. A failure to punish that crime “would mean encouraging new attempted coups d’etat,” Moraes told the court, adding: “History teaches us that impunity, omission and cowardice do not lead to pacification.”
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