Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced three soldiers and a federal police officer to prison for planning to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before his inauguration.
The plan was to assassinate Lula before he takes office following victory in the 2022 presidential election, in which he defeated his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. This conspiracy was to keep Bolsonaro in power despite his defeat in the elections.
All four were sentenced to 21 to 24 years in prison, which will not begin until all possible appeal options have been exhausted.
Bolsonaro, 70, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for leading a plot to overturn the 2022 election results – dubbed the “green and yellow dagger” after the colors of the Brazilian flag – along with three soldiers and policemen found guilty of planning its implementation, which included the killings of officials.
Bolsonaro’s appeal was rejected on Friday. He maintains his innocence.
The era of ‘institutional darkness’ averted
In addition to Lula, the 10-man strong group planned to kill several other Brazilian officials, including Lula’s vice president Geraldo Alcmin and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is also one of the judges in the trial.
Other members of the group were sentenced to shorter prison terms starting at one year and eleven months.
Justice Flavio Dino said that Brazil “fell into seduction and almost fell into an abyss of institutional darkness” because of the conspiracy.
“This was a coup that was going to arrest and kill people, revoke the constitution, citizenship and the free press,” he said.
US President Donald Trump, a friend of Bolsonaro, announced 50% tariffs on Brazil in what he called a “witch hunt” against the former president, which experts called the lowest point in 200 years of relations between the US and Brazil.
Relations between the two countries have improved following a phone conversation between leaders Lula and Trump and a meeting in Malaysia last month.
Edited by: Zack Crellin