BRASILIA: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was convicted by a Supreme Court majority on Thursday of plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election, a powerful blow to the populist far-right movement he created. The presumptive ruling by a majority of a panel of five justices in Brazil’s Supreme Court makes Bolsonaro the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted for attacking democracy. Three judges so far have voted to convict, one acquitted, and one remains to vote.

The panel is now only one vote away from convicting the ex-president, in a case that has angered US ally Donald Trump.

The Brazilian ex-president is accused of plotting a coup to cling to power, which he denies.