BRASILIA, Brazil: A panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison Thursday after convicting him of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat. Bolsonaro, who has always denied any wrongdoing, is currently under house arrest in Brasilia. He can appeal the ruling. Four of the five justices reviewing the case in the panel found the far-right politician guilty on five counts, in a ruling that will deepen political divisions and likely prompt a backlash from the United States government.

The presumptive ruling by a majority of five judges makes him the first ex-president in the country to be convicted for attacking democracy.

Former president faces decades-long jail sentence for seeking to forcibly cling to power after losing 2022 election