The trial will be the first of an ex-leader accused of attempting to take power by force since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship.

A five-judge panel of the Supreme Court voted unanimously to put Bolsonaro on trial. He was not in court for the ruling, but in comments to reporters after the announcement slammed the allegations as “unfounded.” If convicted, the 70-year-old former army captain, who had nurtured hopes of making a comeback in elections next year, risks a jail term of over 40 years. Bolsonaro, who served a single term from 2019-2022, is accused of leading a “criminal organization” that conspired to keep him in power regardless of the outcome of the 2022 election. He lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by a razor-thin margin.

Investigators say that after his defeat, but while he was still in office, the coup plotters planned to install a state of emergency for the holding of new elections. There was also an alleged plan to have Lula, his vice-president Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes - a Bolsonaro foe and one of the judges in the current case -assassinated. (Jamaica Observer/AFP)