Brazil is witnessing an extraordinary chapter in its modern history, one that’s sending shockwaves through its political landscape and reverberating far beyond its borders. On September 11, 2025, Brazil’s Supreme Court delivered a verdict that few could have predicted just a few years ago: former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, once a powerful and polarizing figure, was found guilty of plotting a coup to cling to power after losing the 2022 presidential election. The sentence? A staggering 27 years and three months in prison, a first for any president in Brazil’s history, according to BBC News and Youth Journalism International.
The five-justice panel’s decision wasn’t just about Bolsonaro alone. Alongside him, seven other high-profile figures—including two former defense ministers, a former spy chief, and a former security minister—were also convicted for their roles in what the court described as an organized criminal group bent on undermining democracy. The pivotal vote sealing Bolsonaro’s fate came from Supreme Court Minister Cármen Lúcia, the only woman on the panel. In her words, as reported by Folha d.São Paulo, “Brazil is just worth it because we are still in a democratic state of right.”
The conviction stemmed from a dramatic series of events that culminated on January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil’s Federal Congress and the presidential residence, the Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília. The rioters—spurred by Bolsonaro’s repeated, unfounded claims of election fraud—left a trail of destruction in their wake. Prosecutors argued, and the court agreed, that Bolsonaro had started laying the groundwork for a coup long before that fateful day, proposing intervention to military commanders and casting doubt on the nation’s electoral system. Chillingly, prosecutors also revealed that Bolsonaro knew of plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his vice-presidential running mate, and even a Supreme Court justice.
Bolsonaro, a 70-year-old former army captain, now faces extremely narrow legal avenues to avoid imprisonment in Brasília. Typically, Brazil’s Supreme Court allows significant appeals only if at least two justices dissent from the majority. In Bolsonaro’s case, just one justice voted to acquit—meaning his lawyers’ options are limited to seeking a reduced sentence or possibly arguing for house arrest, citing his age and ongoing health issues. Indeed, Bolsonaro has been hospitalized repeatedly since a stabbing attack during his 2018 campaign, and he’s currently under house arrest for allegedly trying to intimidate Supreme Court justices overseeing his coup case.
Following the verdict, Bolsonaro’s legal team was quick to denounce the court’s decision as a mistake and the punishment as excessively harsh. They vowed to appeal, potentially even to international courts. But the clock is ticking: it could take over a month for the court to publish its full ruling, after which Bolsonaro’s lawyers will have just five days to file any motions for changes. Only after all appeals are exhausted will Bolsonaro begin serving his sentence, which could be carried out in a federal police facility, a military installation, or the notorious Papuda penitentiary in Brasília—a location known for its association with disgraced politicians and considered by some to be the most humiliating option.
Brazilian law does offer some leniency: convicts may spend daylight hours outside prison after serving part of their sentence, depending on the severity of their crimes. Still, Bolsonaro is barred from running for public office until 2060, a punishment that effectively ends his political career.
Just as the dust was settling from the coup verdict, Bolsonaro was hit with another legal blow. On September 16, 2025, a state appeals court in Rio Grande do Sul ordered him to pay R$1 million (about £138,000) in collective moral damages for racist remarks made while in office. The case centered on comments Bolsonaro made in 2021 during live streams outside the presidential palace, where he called a Black supporter’s afro hair a “breeding ground for cockroaches” and suggested the man had lice. Bolsonaro’s defense argued there was no intention of racial offense and that the supporter himself was not offended. But the court was unpersuaded, ruling that the remarks amounted to “recreational racism” and did real harm to the dignity of Black Brazilians. Judge Roger Raupp Rios stated, “Racial offence disguised as jocular remarks or mere jokes, linking Black power hair to insects associated with disgust and dirt, harms the honour and dignity of Black people and reinforces the stigma of inferiority of this population.”
The conviction, which also ordered the Brazilian government to pay an equal sum, arose from a case filed by public prosecutors and the public defender’s office. The judges unanimously agreed that Bolsonaro’s so-called jokes crossed the line, constituting stigmatising offenses and intolerance against the entire Black population. Both Bolsonaro and the government may still appeal, but for now, the verdict stands as another stark reminder of the former president’s divisive legacy.
Bolsonaro’s response to these legal setbacks has been muted, in part due to a court order barring him from using social media. Shortly after the racism ruling, he was hospitalized for what his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, described as a “severe bout of hiccups, vomiting and low blood pressure.” Just the previous Sunday, he’d been treated for skin lesions. Meanwhile, his family and supporters have doubled down on claims that these cases are nothing more than political persecution. Carlos Bolsonaro, a Rio de Janeiro city councilor and another of the former president’s sons, reposted news of the conviction with the message: “Long live democracy!”
International reactions have added another layer of complexity. In May 2025, Bolsonaro met privately with Ricardo Pita, a senior counselor in the Trump administration. By late May, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested there was a high chance of U.S. sanctions against Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who led Bolsonaro’s trial. In July, former U.S. President Donald Trump took to social media in support of Bolsonaro, calling the trial a “witch hunt” and demanding his ally be left in peace. Two days later, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, framing it as retaliation for the conviction. During Bolsonaro’s court session, Minister Flávio Dino mocked the idea that foreign tweets or financial incentives could sway the Supreme Court, quipping, “Do people believe that a tweet from a foreign authority or government will change the Supreme judgment? Will a credit card or Mickey change it?”
For many Brazilians, the events of 2025 have revived painful memories of the 1969 coup, which ushered in over two decades of dictatorship. But this time, the result was different. As Minister Lúcia observed during the judgment, “Nowhere in the world, much less here, is there absolute immunity against authoritarianism, which insidiously creeps in, distilling its poison to contaminate freedoms and human rights, the freedom of humanity.” The message is clear: the law applies to all, and Brazil’s democracy has weathered the storm, at least for now.
As the nation awaits final rulings and the likely appeals, the Bolsonaro saga stands as a stark lesson in the fragility—and resilience—of democratic institutions. The consequences for those who threaten them have never been more evident.
