Court sentences ex-President Bolsonaro to 27 years imprisonment for coup attempt

12 September 2025

(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 3, 2023, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a "Power of the People Rally" at Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Florida. - Bolsonaro is in hot water over allegations he tried to illegally import millions of dollars' worth of jewellery given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia in October 2021. The scandal has triggered multiple investigations, potentially complicating life for Bolsonaro -- who is expected to return soon to Brazil from the United States, where the far-right ex-army captain has been living since just before his leftist successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office on January 1. Brazilian media reported on March 13, 2023, that Bolsonaro had agreed to hand a second set of jewels over to the authorities pending investigation. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for attempting a coup, the country’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) made the announcement.

A majority of the five-member chamber of the STF found the 70-year-old guilty, according to local media.

Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president convicted over an attempted coup, after his supporters stormed the Brazilian Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace on January 8, 2023.

The former president did not appear in court himself.

Meanwhile, since early August, Bolsonaro has been under house arrest for violations of previous court conditions.

The verdict had originally been scheduled for Friday.