In 2025, the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil ruled on a criminal case concerning the 2022–2023 Brazilian coup plot, which followed the election win of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Jair Bolsonaro. The defendants—including the former president Bolsonaro—were convicted in a 4–1 vote for participation in an armed criminal organization, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, attempted coup d'état, qualified damage, and deterioration of protected heritage property.
Background
Votes
Alexandre de Moraes
On 9 September 2025, justice Alexandre de Moraes, as rapporteur, started the voting process during a 5-hour reading of his decision, voting to convict all defendants. Moraes argued the coup plot began in June 2021, starting when former president Jair Bolsonaro and his allies intentionally attempted to undermine the country's electronic voting system, laying the groundwork for claims of election fraud and a coup if Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential election. After losing the election, Moraes sees evidence of Bolsonaro attempting to convince leaders of the armed forces to engage in a military intervention to prevent recently elected Lula from taking power, though failing to gather enough support. Additionally, Moraes points to a plan to assassinate himself, president-elect Lula and vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin, which had been aborted at the last minute. Failing to gather military support, a week after Lula's inauguration as president, Bolsonaro supporters invaded the presidential palace and other government buildings in the 8 January attacks, incited by Bolsonaro himself, Moraes argued.
In his vote, Moraes delineated 13 actions and decisions by the defendants which, he argued, constituted a criminal organization in coordinated and premeditated effort to revert the results of the 2022 presidential election and keep Bolsonaro in power. Moraes was lauded for his vote, for narrating the chronology of events years prior to the 8 January attacks which laid the groundwork for it.
Flávio Dino
In the afternoon of 9 September 2025, justice Flávio Dino concurred with the decision, though arguing that some defendants had a higher level of culpability than others, supporting sentencing accordingly. The justice also dismissed claims that the Court was acting in an authoritarian or tyrannical manner or engaging in judicial activism, and poked fun at the recent diplomatic animosity from the United States regarding the case: "do people believe that a tweet from a foreign government's authority will change a ruling of the Court? Does anyone think that a credit card or Mickey are going to change the ruling of the Court?".
Luiz Fux
On 10 September 2025, justice Luiz Fux dissented, voting to annul the case on multiple accounts. Fux's vote reading lasted over 10 hours, the third longest in the Court's history, during which he argued, among other things, that:
the Supreme Federal Court did not have the jurisdiction to convict the defendants, as they no longer held office at the time of the trial and, thus, would not be subject to privileged forum; as such, that the Court was "absolutely not competent" to rule this case; even if the Court was to have jurisdiction over the case, the defendants should be tried by the full Court (of 11 justices) and not the 5 member "First Class" panel; the itself should be annulled, because the defense was not given enough time to prepare due to the great amount of documents submitted as evidence; an attempted coup conviction is meant to punish "conduct that deliberately leads the nation to authoritarian regime (...) with the effective capability to attain that objective in all its necessary aspects"which would not apply in this case; the crime of attempted coup, as defined in the penal code, should not apply to self-coups; Bolsonaro only "considered" measures to remain in power, but "nothing happened", and that would not be enough to convict the former president; the defendants could not be punished for the actions of third-parties in the 8 January attacks; the crime of "participation in an armed criminal organization" requires, among other things, a clear organizational structure, roles attributed to the organization's members and the goal of obtaining some form of advantage through illicit means, which would not apply to any of the defendants; the crimes of "attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law" and "attempted coup d'état" are the same penal type, and thus only one, if any, should apply.
Fux voted to convict Mauro Cid and Walter Braga Netto for the crime of attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, but to acquit them of all others. Alongside Moraes and Dino's votes, a majority was then formed in the Court to convict these defendants for that crime. Fux voted to acquit the other defendants, including Jair Bolsonaro, and to dismiss the case against Alexandre Ramagem.
Criticism Following Fux's vote, the justice was criticized for a perceived partiality: when ruling against the rioters of the 8 January attacks, Fux convicted hundreds of defendants without bringing up any of the points argued for in this case, including the supposed lack of jurisdiction of the Court or requirements for what constitutes a criminal organization. This raises an apparent contradiction: the justice seemingly believes the Court had jurisdiction over ordinary citizens, but not when ruling over what are deemed to be the figureheads of the movement. Further, since March 2024 it has been the Court's understanding that it holds jurisdiction to rule on cases of people who, at the time of committing a crime, held office.
Moreover, among the arguments for the annulment of the case, Fux cited Operation Car Wash, which had convicted Lula but was later overturned in the Court for having been tried in a lower, incorrect jurisdiction. However, at the time, Fux voted against overturning the conviction, arguing that annulling the decision would be a formality that did not justify invalidating the sentencing, as part of a dissenting 3 that lost to 8 concurring justices. Anticipating criticism, during his vote, Fux stated that "to change one's understanding is to evolve" and that "the law is not a museum of principles; it is in constant mutation".
Cármen Lúcia
On 11 September 2025, justice Cármen Lúcia concurred with the rapporteur. Lúcia considered that the attorney's office had shown there had been a collection of measures formulated and executed with the goal of bringing radicalization to the social and political spheres, aiming to fabricate a crisis that would set the stage for a coup. She further noted that the attempt of a coup is self-evidently what the law punishes, as if it is otherwise successful, there would no longer be anyone there to judge it.
Cristiano Zanin
Following justice Cármen Lúcia's vote, on 11 September 2025, justice Cristiano Zanin concurred with the rapporteur, voting to convict all defendants. Zanin argued that there was an organized, hierarchical structure with assigned roles and an aim to keep Bolsonaro in power through illicit means, meeting the definition previously described by Fux for the crime of participation in an armed criminal organization. Had justice Zanin dissented, most defendants (save for Cid and Netto) would have a 3–2 decision, allowing for an appeal that, if accepted, would put the conviction up for a vote at the plenary of the Court, with all 11 justices.
Punishment On 11 September 2025, following the votes for convictions, the justices voted to sentence each of the defendants. They were decided as follows:
Jair Bolsonaro, 27 years and 3 months in prison plus R$376 thousand in fines (US$70 thousand); Mauro Cid, 2 years in house arrest; Augusto Heleno, 21 years in prison plus R$128 thousand in fines (US$24 thousand); Walter Braga Netto, 26 years in prison plus R$152 thousand in fines (US$28 thousand); Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, 19 years in prison plus R$128 thousand in fines (US$24 thousand); Alexandre Ramagem, 16 years, 1 month and 15 days in prison plus R$76 thousand in fines (US$14 thousand); Almir Garnier Santos, 24 years in prison plus R$152 thousand in fines (US$28 thousand); Anderson Torres, 24 years in prison plus R$152 thousand in fines (US$28 thousand).
Furthermore, as Ramagem held the office as a member of the Chamber of Deputies at the time of the trial and his sentence exceeded the maximum of permitted absences (120 days), he was removed from office. All defendants were also prohibited from holding any elected office for 8 years after serving their sentences, in accordance with the law.
High Court decision
Group 1: Leadership and Command The trial of Group 1 took place between 2–11 September 2025 before the First Panel of the Supreme Federal Court and resulted in the conviction of all the 8 defendants. On 25 November, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that the second set of appeals filed by the defense was not admissible, declared the case to have reached res judicata and ordered the beginning of the enforcement of the prison sentence for all the defendants. +DefendantsCriminal chargesSentenceAbolition of the democratic rule of lawCoup d'étatCriminal organizationQualified damageDeterioration of protected heritage propertyJair Bolsonaro27 years, 3 monthsWalter Braga Netto26 yearsAnderson Torres24 yearsAlmir Garnier24 yearsAugusto Heleno21 yearsPaulo Sérgio Nogueira19 yearsAlexandre Ramagemcolspan="2" 16 years, 1 monthMauro Cid 2 years
Group 2: Management of Operation Actions The trial of Group 2 (AP 2693) was held between 9–16 December 2025 and resulted in the conviction of 5 of the 6 defendants, with only Fernando de Sousa Oliveira being acquitted. DefendantsCriminal chargesSentenceAbolition of the democratic rule of lawCoup d'étatCriminal organizationQualified damageDeterioration of protected heritage propertyMário Fernandes 26 years, 6 monthsSilvinei Vasques 24 years, 6 monthsFilipe Martins 21 yearsMarcelo Câmara 21 yearsMarília Alencar 8 years, 6 monthsFernando de Sousa
Group 3: Execution of Actions The trial of Group 3 (AP 2696) took place between 11–18 November 2025 and led to the conviction of 9 of the 10 defendants, with only General Estevan Theophilo being acquitted. On 13 March 2026, Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that the second set of appeals filed by the defense was not admissible, declared the case to have reached res judicata and ordered the beginning of the enforcement of the prison sentence for all the convicted defendants. DefendantsCriminal chargesSentenceAbolition of the democratic rule of lawCoup d'étatCriminal organizationQualified damageDeterioration of protected heritage propertyHélio Ferreira Lima24 yearsRafael Martins de Oliveira21 yearsRodrigo Bezerra de Azevedo21 yearsWladimir Matos Soares21 yearsBernardo Romão Correa Neto17 yearsSérgio Ricardo Cavaliere17 yearsFabrício Moreira de Bastos16 yearsMárcio Nunes de Resende3 years, 5 monthsRonald Ferreira de Araújo1 year, 11 monthsEstevan Theophilo
Group 4: Production and Dissemination of Disinformation The trial of Group 4 (AP 2694) was held between 14–21 October 2025 and resulted in the conviction of all the 7 defendants. DefendantsCriminal chargesSentenceAbolition of the democratic rule of lawCoup d'étatCriminal organizationQualified damageDeterioration of protected heritage propertyÂngelo Denicoli17 yearsReginaldo Abreu15 years, 6 monthsMarcelo Bormevet 14 years, 6 monthsGiancarlo Rodrigues14 yearsGuilherme Almeida13 years, 6 monthsAilton Moraes Barros 13 years, 6 monthsCarlos Cesar Rocha7 years, 6 months
Reactions and aftermath Right- and left-wing world leaders reacted to the trial following its results.