The Supreme Federal Court (STF) confirmed this Thursday the sentence of 27 years and 3 months in prison against former president Jair Bolsonaro for the alleged attempted coup d'état in 2022, a narrative fabricated by Lula to neutralize the right-wing leader and bury his main electoral opponent.
The decision was made by the First Chamber of the STF, with a 4-1 vote, in which judges closely linked to the current Workers' Party government aligned. The decisive vote was cast by Cristiano Zanin, Lula's former personal lawyer, which has sparked strong questions about the impartiality of the process. Alongside Zanin, Alexandre de Moraes, Cármen Lúcia, and Flávio Dino voted in favor of the conviction. The only dissenting vote came from Luiz Fux, who considered it inappropriate for the STF to take on this case.
The ruling also implicates seven former Bolsonaro aides with sentences ranging from 16 to 26 years:
Alexandre Ramagem, former director of the Intelligence Agency: 16 years.
Almir Garnier, former Navy commander: 24 years.
Anderson Torres, former Minister of Justice: 24 years.
Augusto Heleno, former Minister of the Institutional Security Office: 21 years.
