Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in front of his residence in Brasilia on September 11, 2025. SERGIO LIMA/AFP
For years, Jair Bolsonaro repeated the same refrain: "For my future, I have three options: prison, death, or victory," he would say, both privately and in public, adding that the first was "out of the question." History, however, had other plans and delivered a sharp retort. On Thursday, September 11, the former president of Brazil was sentenced by the courts to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup.
The justices of the first chamber of the Supreme Federal Court, Brazil's highest, made this decision. By a vote of four to one, they sealed the fate of the far-right leader who held power from 2019 to 2023.
The justices also sentenced seven of his closest associates, identified as the masterminds behind the failed coup. They received prison terms ranging from two to 26 years.
Subscribers only
